(TOLEDO, Ohio) — Four additional defendants were sentenced this week for their roles in a decade-long Ponzi scheme that defrauded hundreds of investors of $72 million, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and Ohio Department of Commerce Director Sherry Maxfield announced today.
A state investigation revealed that, from 2011 to 2021, Toledo-based Northwest Capital – acting as an intermediary – sold accounts receivable to raise capital. The firm used fraudulent and inaccurate documents to secure loans and investments, with the money diverted to other businesses connected to Northwest Capital.
All told, the scheme encompassed more than 700 investments and at least 200 investors, many of whom were duped into thinking they were investing in legitimate business ventures.
“This was a great effort by the entire prosecution team,” Wilson said. “Theft is theft – if you’re going to do business in Ohio, you need to do it fairly or expect to face the legal consequences.”
Maxfield, too, hailed the outcome.
“Today’s sentencing marks the end of a complex, years‑long effort to bring accountability to those who misled Ohio investors,” she said. “I am proud of our enforcement team with the Division of Securities, whose dedication over many years, working hand‑in‑hand with the attorneys from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, made this moment possible. Their work reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting Ohioans.”
In hearings held yesterday or today in Lucas County Court of Common Pleas:
- Richard Scheich, a former firm executive, was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $3,952,817 in restitution to five victims and an additional $8,026,274 to banks that were defrauded. Scheich previously pleaded guilty to five felonies.
- James Delverene, a former investment manager who had pleaded guilty to 11 felonies, was sentenced to four years in prison.
- Doug Miller, a former investment adviser who had pleaded guilty to six felonies, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
- Nancy Rathbun – the wife of Gary Rathbun, a defendant in the case who died in April – was sentenced to two years of community control on one felony charge.
In the first sentencing related to the scheme, John Walters, Northwest Capital’s chief compliance officer, was sentenced on May 18 to two years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to five felony charges.
A related case involving Bradley Konerman and Adam Salon is pending in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
The sentencings are a culmination of a multiyear investigation by the Department of Commerce’s Division of Securities and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, part of Wilson’s office.
Wilson’s Special Prosecutions Section prosecuted the cases.
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Steve Irwin: 614-728-5417
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