Opinion ID: 145469
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hall Moves His Scheme to Missouri

Text: In January 2006, Hall met Joseph Cooper, a certified public accountant in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. Hall touted the Kingsley Trust to Cooper, representing the assets of the Kingsley Trust would be invested with a reputable firm in Chicago and insured by Bear Stearns for eventual investment in the currency exchange market. With the promise of a $300,000 annual salary, Hall hired Cooper to serve as the Kingsley Trust's accountant and later as trustee. At Hall's direction, Cooper and David Jarman, a local financial advisor whom Hall had appointed as a trustee of the Kingsley Trust, opened bank accounts in the St. Louis area for the Kingsley Trust. Cooper and Jarman became the accounts' signatories, but Hall controlled the funds. Hall hired Jarman to develop a website for the Kingsley Trust. Hall drafted and controlled the website's content, and Jarman focused on the website's layout. The Kingsley Trust's website promoted, [G]uaranteed deposits that post annual rates twice the norm and Kingsley Trust erases the guesswork with `principal guarantee.' The website contained a form onto which visitors could submit their contact information to learn more about investing in the Kingsley Trust. C.O. invested in the Kingsley Trust after Hall promised to help build a church. Hall represented himself to C.O. as a wealthy investor in golf courses and alerted C.O. to the Kingsley Trust's website. C.O. found the website, entered his contact information, and began to correspond with Cooper about investing in the Kingsley Trust. In reliance upon a series of false and fraudulent misrepresentations Cooper made to C.O. at Hall's behest, C.O. wired $250,000 to the Kingsley Trust in two separate installments in December 2006. S.E., J.K., and I.M. also invested in the Kingsley Trust. S.E., an unemployed truck driver, invested $10,000. J.K., a retired schoolteacher and one of Jarman's clients, invested $10,000. I.M., a recent widow and a client of one of Jarman's associates, invested $75,000. Jarman's associate recommended the Kingsley Trust to I.M. after she spoke with Hall, viewed the Kingsley Trust's website, and came to believe all investments were guaranteed. As with the Axiom Trust, Hall misappropriated the Kingsley Trust's assets instead of investing them. Cooper directly helped Hall perpetuate the fraud, but Jarman did not. When Jarman discovered Hall was not investing the Kingsley Trust's assets, Jarman alerted J.K., I.M., and Jarman's associate. With Jarman's help, J.K. asked Hall to return her investment, as permitted under the terms of her share in the Kingsley Trust. Cooper then sent J.K. a letter stating he would return her money in 30 days. However, J.K.'s funds were not returned until shortly before trial.