Police probe alleged Ponzi scheme involving Cherry Creek, Regis Jesuit students
Students are the focus of a police investigation into an alleged Ponzi scheme that appears to involve kids at two suburban high schools.
Students at Cherry Creek and Regis Jesuit high schools paid into a bogus fund to become investors in a medical-marijuana dispensary, police said.
So far, two students, a 16-year-old and a 17- year-old, are either the victims or suspects in the scheme, according to authorities.
No arrests have been made.
An e-mail blast was sent to parents Tuesday morning by the Denver Police Department, seeking more potential victims.
"This scam involved students believing that they were investing money into a medical marijuana dispensary in Denver," according to the e-mail from police.
Police would say neither how much money was collected nor why the case was being called a Ponzi scheme, a term for fraudulent investment operations that pay returns to current investors from fees paid by newer investors.
Police became aware of the alleged operation Nov. 20, said Denver Detective John White, adding that all transactions were apparently made in Denver and none appear to have been made in the high schools.
Ponzi schemes rarely hit teenagers, White said. In this case, both schools — one public and one private — have student populations among the more affluent in the area.
"This is unusual for juveniles to be victims in this type of scam," he said. "We usually see much more sophisticated investors who have more money to invest. Not high school students."
White said it is not known whether the dispensary named by the students soliciting investors is aware that teenagers believed they were investing money in it. White would name neither the business nor the students known to be involved.
The student from Cherry Creek High School is enrolled in the school but has not been to classes for months, said Tustin Amole, spokeswoman for Cherry Creek School District.
Officials from Regis in Aurora said they are cooperating fully with the authorities.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
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