Phoenix man arrested as part of $110 million Ponzi scheme
FBI agents arrested the owners of a now-defunct California real estate firm Wednesday, accusing them of running an alleged $110 million Ponzi scheme with Phoenix connections.
Michael Stewart, 66, of Phoenix , and John Packard, 63, of Long Beach, Calif., owned and ran Pacific Property Assets. The Southern California company was established in 1999 with a business model focused on purchases, ownership and sales of apartment complexes in Arizona and California.
They face federal charges of mail, bank and bankruptcy fraud, according to prosecutors. They were indicted on the charges by a federal grand jury last month. They each could face as many as 320 years in prison.
PPA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010. That was later made into Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy.
The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filed a complaint against the pair in 2012 alleging another company they ran called Apartments America LLC defrauded approximately 650 investors for its Arizona and California real estate purchases. Stewart settled that case with the SEC, according to documents from the regulatory agency.
PPA’s offices are closed. Stewart’s counsel could not be reached for comment. Packard’s California attorney also was not available for comment.
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