Agoura man sentenced in Ponzi scheme

Investors lost a reported $36 million



Dean Gross, an Agoura Hills resident who defrauded threedozen investors out of nearly $36 million in a Ponzi scheme, was sentenced Jan. 14 to seven years in federal prison

A Ponzi scheme is an investment scam that pays returns out of investors’ own money rather than from profit earned legitimately.

Gross had been an active volunteer with youth soccer and basketball leagues in the Conejo Valley and had become a trusted friend to many families. But from 2006 to 2009 he bilked not only local clients, but some from across the country.

The 50-year-old also must pay $15.4 million in restitution, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Baldwin said the payback will likely not occur.

“At present, I don’t believe there are sufficient funds to pay people back,” Baldwin said. “Our understanding is that he really doesn’t have assets. His home was foreclosed on—the bank took it back.”

Gross pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Aug. 6, 2012. While running the scheme, he collected $35.8 million from approximately 39 investors.

A federal complaint said Gross operated his scheme using the fictitious business name Bridon Entertainment. He convinced would-be investors that he was a successful advertising veteran with enough connections in the industry to allow him to buy advertising time and space at discounted prices and resell the media packages to large corporations at higher prices. He ensnared investors with the promise of 8 percent quarterly returns.

An investigation by the FBI began to unravel the truth.

“In a Ponzi scheme, a lot of money is paid from one investor to another,” Baldwin said. “Not necessarily all proceeds were used by him. Some was used for personal living expenses. It did look like that at one point in time he was paying for a vacation home, but then that was gone too.”

One 68-year-old Westlake Village man who asked that his full name not be disclosed said he suffered a six- figure loss under the scheme. The man met Gross through a trusted business acquaintance who believed the investment plan was legitimate.

Because of Gross’ good standing the in the community—he was a family man with children in college and had been a soccer coach with the Agoura Youth Soccer Association—the victim felt comfortable with his investment.

The victim believes Gross may have stashed away some of his profits.

“I would say there is better than a 50-50 chance he did (hide money),” he said in an earlier interview with The Acorn. “The FBI agent just uncovered another account Dean used, which even the SEC had not discovered. Also, Dean evidently continued to scam folks even after pleading guilty. And it was validated that the fraud was a Ponzi scheme from day one. So he sat in front of several of us, week after week, and lied directly to us. Someone that sick could easily have stashed a couple million somewhere.

“The judge recognized that Dean destroyed a lot of lives and (needed) to be punished,” the victim said.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *