Attorney General's News Release

September 29, 2000

Greene County man sentenced to eight years in connection with $6 million investment Ponzi scheme

Springfield, Mo. — A Greene County man was sentenced to eight years in prison today after pleading guilty to criminal charges that he operated a $6 million environmental investment scheme that paid early investors with money paid by later investors. Schemes that pay early investors with later investors' money are known as Ponzi schemes.

Dale Wayne McCurry (DOB - 1/2/59), of Fair Grove, was indicted on 13 counts last February by a Greene County grand jury at the request of Attorney General Jay Nixon, whose office then prosecuted the case. Nixon said that from 1994 through 1998, McCurry solicited investments totaling more than $6 million from more than 200 investors, some of whom invested as much as $447,000.

McCurry told investors he was operating a successful environmental business that purchased "waste-eating micro-bacterial bugs." McCurry used the proceeds from later sales to pay off early investors to create the facade that the business operations of McCurry Environmental Solutions were financially successful.

Greene County Circuit Judge Don E. Burrell Jr. sentenced McCurry to eight years in prison after McCurry pleaded guilty to four counts of securities fraud, three counts of selling unregistered securities, two counts of selling securities as an unregistered agent, three counts of stealing by deceit and one count of passing a bad check.

McCurry's Missouri sentence will run concurrent to the five years remaining on federal convictions for mail fraud and money laundering related to the scheme. He was returned to federal prison after being sentenced today.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

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