A Passel of Ponzis: Bernie's Neighbor Indicted

Flickr: b_cuzz

No, this graffiti isn't in Palm Beach... yet.

​Like drug dealers to the ghetto, the Ponzi schemers flocked to Palm Beach. The latest to be accused in a criminal court is Donald Anthony Young, who happened to live next door to Ponzi king Bernard Madoff.

The indictment for fraud against Young has been expected since January 2009, when the Securities and Exchange Commission opened a file. The SEC sued Young a year ago this month.

The criminal indictment was filed yesterday in a federal court in Philadelphia, where Young has another home. It says that Young's Ponzi scheme stretched across ten years, beginning in 1999. From the Philadelphia Daily News:

During that time, Young operated an investment-advisory business in Kennett Square and obtained about $96 million from investors, authorities alleged.

The indictment charged that Young promised to invest clients' money in blue-chip, large-cap companies, but instead diverted more than $26 million for his own use.

Mind you, Young is only 38 right now, meaning that he launched this alleged scheme at the ripe old age of 27.

No offense to the young people who toil long hours in the financial services industry and winter on "The Island," but maybe it's time the SEC took a closer look at the investment dealings of every person under 40 who has earned enough as a money manager to buy a pad in Palm Beach.