Tom Petters

Kurt Bills ad linking Klobuchar and Petters is "preposterous," says Republican bankruptcy trustee [VIDEO]

During last night's Vikings telecast, GOP Senate candidate Kurt Bills debuted his first TV ad.SEE ALSO: Daily Caller report linking Amy Klobuchar and Petters "is old rehashed stuff," Ken Avidor saysThe ad highlights accusations made in a Daily Caller report last week -- namely, "that U.S. Senator Am ... More >>

Daily Caller report linking Amy Klobuchar and Petters "is old rehashed stuff," Ken Avidor says

On Friday, The D.C.-based Daily Caller published a report alleging "that U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar helped keep a multibillion-dollar Ponzi schemer [i.e., Tom Petters] out of prison in the late 1990s when she was the County Attorney in Hennepin County, Minnesota."SEE ALSO: Tom Petters, convicted Pon ... More >>

Supreme Court ruling means Tom Petters is still a fraudster

The Supreme Court won't review Tom Petters' conviction, according to a document released by the court. Petters asked the court to review his 2009 conviction for running a $3.65 billion dollar Ponzi scheme. He appealed the conviction on the grounds that lower courts inappropriately barred Petters' a ... More >>

U.S. Attorney's office reacts to Twin Cities Business story: "Tom Petters is a fraudster"

Twin Cities Business' cover story this month tells "The Untold Story of Tom Petters." In the piece, convicted Ponzi schemer Tom Petters asserts his innocence. "Petters remains adamant that others took a legitimate business and turned it into a Ponzi scheme without his knowledge," writes Twin Citie ... More >>

Tom Petters, convicted Ponzi schemer, teaches fellow inmates business classes

In 2009, Tom Petters was found guilty of masterminding a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Now, according to an interview Petters gave to Twin Cities Business magazine, he teaches his fellow inmates at the prison in Leavenworth, Kansas how to make business plans.Out of ... More >>

Tom Petters's Ponzi victims sue defunct Wisconsin bank for $1 billion

​A Florida investment group that was bilked out of more than $1 billion by Tom Petters is suing to get that money back.Palm Beach Finance Partners is suing BMO Harris, the bank company that bought now-defunct Wisconsin financial services company M&I for $1 billion. BMO Harris filed a motion to ... More >>

Tom Petters' foul mouth caught on audio and transcripts

AvidorTom Petters: F-bomb city.​Convicted Ponzi schemer Tom Petters, settling in for what amounts to a life sentence in a federal penitentiary for screwing investors out of billions of dollars, isn't guilty. No, he's a victim! He's misunderstood! He's selling a fucking dream, for cryin' out ... More >>

Tom Petters' employees told to give back the bonuses

Ken Avidor.Tom Petters: Worst boss ever.​Tom Petters must be one of the worst bosses of all time. First, the guy gets busted in a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme that makes anything Petters-related an epic negative on the resume. Now, his ex-employees have to give up the one perk left: The dirty mo ... More >>

Tom Petters to bunk at Leavenworth

Photo via WikipediaThe United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth -- The Big House -- is Tom Petters' new address​Ponzi schemer Tom Petters is headed for The Big House: the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. And unless his legal team can pull a rabbit out of its hat and win an app ... More >>

Tom Petters moved to temporary cell in Oklahoma City

Headed for the federal pen​Tom Petters is headed for the Big House. The one-time high-flying millionaire sentenced to 50 years behind bars for orchestrating a $3.7 million Ponzi scheme is cooling his heels in the Federal Transfer Center at Will Rogers airport in Oklahoma City. Next stop is a f ... More >>

Tom Petters' restitution order names victims

Now we have the names of Tom Petters' victims​No investor lost more money to convicted Ponzi schemer Tom Petters than Ritchie Capital Management: $165 million. No one lost less in the $3.65 billion scheme than Louise Remley and her $9,420. Their losses, along with those of 432 others, are ... More >>

Tom Petters' lakeside estate under contract for $5M

​Chalk up a win for the victims of Tom Petters' $3.5 million Ponzi scheme: His 6,300-square-foot home at 655 Bushaway Road in Wayzata is under contract to a buyer for $5 million, according to papers filed by the bankruptcy trustee in the case. While $5 million may sound like a lot, it's actu ... More >>

Tom Petters appeals as pauper and seeks public defence

Ken AvidorPetters hears the judge sentence him to a life behind bars​Tearing a page from the Denny Hecker instructional manual on getting the public to cover the costs of private enterprise deceit, convicted Ponzi schemer Tom Petters filed notice on Tuesday in the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of ... More >>

Tom Petters sentencing wrap-up video

Illustrator Ken Avidor, who covered the trial of Tom Petters for City Pages, sends this final video and the following account:

Tom Petters faces the music today

Today's the day. Disgraced Wayzata businessman Tom Petters, convicted last year of orchestrating a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme, will appear in a St. Paul courtroom and find out just how much of the rest of his life he's going to spend behind bars. Prosecutors are seeking a 335-year sentence. His defe ... More >>

Tom Petters sentenced to 50 years in prison

Ken AvidorTom Petters hears Judge Richard Kyle sentence him to 50 years in prison​Disgraced Wayzata businessman Tom Petters, convicted last year of orchestrating a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. Prosecutors sought a 335-year sentence. His defense team as ... More >>

Tom Petters channels Bernie Madoff

Tom Petters​Seeking a more lenient sentence after his client was convicted of orchestrating a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme, disgraced businessman Tom Petters's lawyer, Paul Engh, has decided the best way to make his point is to equate Petters with one of the most reviled figures in New York's fi ... More >>

Tom Petters is personally on the hook for $3.5 billion for Ponzi scheme

Mega-swindler Tom Petters will forfeit all his property to pay back his investors, a judge ruled today.

Tom Petters, Ponzi schemer, likely to face life sentence next month

The convicted swindler could easily receive a life sentence for the Ponzi scheme.

Cathedral H.S. doesn't have $250K to repay swindler Petters' gift

The latest installment of chaos and potential ruin visited upon those touched by convicted swindler Tom Petters.

Petters Auditorium renamed by College of St. Benedict

Having a $3.5 billion Ponzi-schemer's name attached to your auditorium doesn't sound like a good idea to us either.

The Trial of Tom Petters -- Video evidence released

Politicians, celebrities and suckers ... the Tom Petters promotional video.

Tom Petters NSFW meltdown

The Ponzi schemer also had a foul mouth.

The Trial of Tom Petters Denouement: Guilty on All 20 Counts

Tom Petters showed no emotion.

Ponzi schemer Tom Petters guilty on all counts

All. Twenty. Counts.

The Trial of Tom Petters Day 18 was crowded with gawkers

Everybody and their sister came out to see the final arguments for the biggest Ponzi trial in Minnesota.

The Trial of Tom Petters -- Day 16 features gondola sex NSFW

On the stand, Tom Petters admitted to telling his personal assistant that he had sex with Deanna Coleman in a gondola.

The Trial of Tom Petters -- Day 17

Both sides rest their case.

The Trial of Tom Petters -- Day 14

Tom Petters took the stand and talked about growing up in Saint Cloud and his start in the merchandise diverting business.

The Trial of Tom Petters -- Day 15

Petters said he was too grief-stricken to be fully in charge of the business, but he also boasted about his deal-making with big merchandisers and his business trips all over the world.

The Trial of Tom Petters -- Day 12

Today we heard from more businessmen about documents forged and deals gone bad.

The Trial of Tom Petters -- Day 11

Petters made all kinds of excuses while he continued to live like a "big-time wheeler-dealer," "swashbuckling industrialist" with his "Blackberry abuzz."

The Trial of Tom Petters Day 8

"The Star Tribune was going to do a story about what a great entrepreneur Tom Petters was.... I went to my car chuckling."

The Trial of Tom Petters, Day 6

A connection to Michele Bachmann? More graphic testimony.

Petters on tape: Mob might kill me

Prosecutors played a tape recorded during the final days before his businesses collapsed where Petters says he fears that some of his investors might be connected to the mob and would kill him if he didn't pay them off.

The Trial of Tom Petters Day 5 is NSFW

Intimate affairs, tears, and the mob--oh my!

The Trial of Tom Petters: Day 4

Petters began to cry and asked Deanna Coleman for a hug. Coleman freaked out because she was wearing a wire.

The Trial of Tom Petters: A graphic look at a sensational trial

Ken Avidor will be offering his unique artistic take on a sensational trial that has barred cameras.

Petters -- duped by former mobster?

Larry Reynolds -- whose real name is Larry Reservitz -- is a swindler and drug trafficker with connections to the New England mob. Petters's attorneys are arguing he is to blame for the entire financial scandal.

For sale: Home of Tom Petters

Anyone on the market for a $7.8 million home? We didn't think so. But if you are, you can possibly bask in the Ponzi glory of local businessman Tom Petters.

Petters doesn't like how he is treated in jail

His attorneys say he is being treated unfairly in jail and not given the same freedom as others in the clinker.

Petters said he would 'bite the bullet if he had to', agent testifies

One Nevada Gaming Control Board agent testified that when Petters was approached in Las Vegas in September, he said "I am the guy in charge and I will bite the bullet if I have to."

Wanted: Anyone willing to defend Petters for table scraps

Lawyers for Minnesota businessman Tom Petters are pretty pissed. Would you want to defend this guy for table scraps? Doubtful.

Petters blames Star Tribune for ruining jury pool, wants trial moved

The alleged multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme of Tom Petters is easily one of the biggest fraud cases in Minnesota history, but Petters seems to believe that the state's largest newspaper shouldn't be paying it much attention.

Redstone's owner smacked with lawsuits

Petters's trial set for June 9

Minnesota millionaire and former CEO Tom Petters will stand trial June 9 for allegedly running one of the world's largest Ponzi schemes.

Petters: Bonfire of the Ponzis

Petters accountant pleads guilty

The sixth person charged in the Tom Petters fraud case pleaded guilty today.

Petters's Polaroid files bankruptcy

Polaroid Corp., is the latest entity to fall afte ... More >>

Feds want to know if Petters will plead insanity

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