Priceless SpongeBob SquarePants Coins Couldn't Prevent Collapse Of Peregrine Financial Group
Silver SpongeBob SquarePants coins minted by a private company in New Zealand were among assets seized by FBI agents from Peregrine Financial Group after its chief confessed to nearly 20 years of fraud last week...The coin disclosure adds a new twist to the case of Peregrine Finiancial Group's CEO Russell Wasendorf Sr., who was arrested last Friday after he confessed to doctoring bank statements to make regulators think his futures brokerage had nearly twice the assets that it did, leaving customers with an estimated shortfall of over $200 million. Peregrine, which operated as PFGBest, filed for bankruptcy protection last week. Peregrine ran a unit called PFG Precious Metals Inc., which offers investors "whole sale prices, fast & fully insured shipping" for gold, silver, and platinum coins, as well as novelty items created through a partnership with the Auckland-based minting firm. [Reuters via DI]
