There’s selling sports betting picks, and then there’s what this Las Vegas man allegedly did to get a 13-count federal indictment.
According to a release from the Northern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney’s Office, Matthew Turnipseede, 49, was charged Thursday with defrauding approximately 72 investors in Ohio and elsewhere out of more than $8.5 million through a Ponzi scheme involving various sports betting businesses.
From 2015 to 2021, Turnipseede is alleged to have lured people into investing money into companies he owned with a promise of double-digit profits in return. According to the indictment, he falsely claimed that investor funds would be used to make sophisticated sports wagers based on an algorithm.
However, none of the companies generated the promised profits. Turnipseede allegedly used the funds to maintain the businesses, pay off earlier investors and fund personal expenses, even though he was only supposed to collect a percentage of winning bets. Investigators allege Turnipseede used some funds for trips to “Disneyland and Hawaii, spa treatments, lease payments on multiple vehicles and country club membership dues”.
Turnipseede was also accused of emailing fraudulent financial statements to victims and hiring an accounting firm to create IRS forms based on fraudulent figures he provided the firm. He was charged with 12 counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.
