Erie man indicted in Ponzi scheme

DENVER – The Colorado State Grand Jury has indicted an Erie man, along with another man from Massachusetts, for defrauding about $10 million from local and national investors in a Ponzi scheme.

Jason Trevor Brooks, 30, of Erie is being held at the Boulder County jail on 24 counts of security fraud and theft in Colorado. His business associate Donald Scott Carew, 37, of

Massachusetts is facing three counts of securities fraud.

Authorities allege that from June 2005 to February 2008, Brooks collected about $10 million from investors primarily in Weld, Larimer, Broomfield and Boulder counties to invest, but then used a vast majority of the funds for personal expenses, gambling, and to make interest payments and payouts to other investors.

Brooks also allegedly accepted investments from individuals from Florida, California, Texas, Massachusetts, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Mexico Connecticut, Arizona, Washington, Ohio and the Virgin Islands.

Brooks, working under the Genius Inc. name, told investors he had a distribution agreement with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan, which allowed him to purchase electronics and appliances as a distributor and then resell them for a profit to various home builders and other businesses, authorities said.

“In fact, less than 5 percent of investor funds were actually used to purchase electronics and appliances,” the indictment said.

Authorities said Brooks conducted the business primarily from various residences in Fort Collins, Superior and Erie. They will prosecute him in Weld County District Court.

Throughout the course of the enterprise, Brooks enlisted several associates to act as representatives and agents of Genius Inc., including Carew, the indictment said.

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