Amish businessman ordered to pay $5.2M in scam targeting his own community

[bfdd6988]

"A man who authorities said took advantage of his Amish heritage to recruit novice investors into a fraudulent scheme has been ordered to pay $5.2 million, most of it to his clients."

Fox Business: Amish businessman ordered to pay $5.2M in scam targeting his own community.
Amish businessman ordered to pay $5.2M in scam targeting his own community

 

[bèlla]

Indiana resident Earl Miller’s 72 investors lost more than $4.1 million when his investments failed, according to a complaint from the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2015. He had encouraged people to put their retirement savings into his fund, which he had no experience in managing, by advertising “double digit annual returns” and promising a fixed-rate return of 8 percent to 12 percent per year, investigators said.

Touting his Amish heritage, Miller advertised in Amish newspapers and arranged community meetings with Amish families to attract inexperienced investors.

 

[public hermit]

That's a particular kind of low down. I have a somewhat romantic idea of the Amish, which makes me despise this act even more. I just don't understand how people live with themselves.

The other side is, why would they assume someone is trustworthy simply because they have the same heritage? That's too much pride in the group's supposed "elite" status and exclusivity.