Claud R Koerber, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering, UT 2023

SALT LAKE CITY — Claud R. Koerber, aka Rick Koerber, 43, was hit Wednesday with an 18-count federal indictment charging him with running a massive, years-long fraud operation that funneled nearly $100 million from investors into a web of lies, luxury cars, and fake profits. The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury, accuses Koerber of masterminding a fraudulent investment scheme through companies including Founders Capital, Franklin Squires Investments, and Franklin Squires Companies — all fronts, prosecutors say, for one of Utah’s most brazen financial cons.

Koerber now faces four counts of fraud in the offer and sale of securities, 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and two counts of tax evasion. Each securities fraud count carries up to five years in prison; each wire fraud count up to 20 years. The money laundering charges stem from Koerber allegedly using illicit investor funds to buy luxury vehicles exceeding $200,000 apiece — purchases that prosecutors say reek of greed and deception. The tax evasion counts allege he failed to report over $600,000 in taxable income for 2005 alone.

According to the indictment, from 2004 through December 31, 2008, Koerber used false promises, fabricated earnings reports, and interstate wire communications to lure investors into handing over cash, often disguised as loans. He maintained near-total control over Founders Capital, the central hub of the scheme, and diverted millions for personal use — including luxury housing, high-end automobiles, restaurant investments, and unsecured loans to shell businesses. None of the entities under his control, the indictment stresses, ever turned an annual profit during those years.

Instead, Koerber kept the illusion of success alive by running a classic Ponzi scheme — using new investor money to pay interest to earlier backers. The indictment details how he falsely claimed Franklin Squires Companies pulled in $111 million in revenue in 2005 and over $500 million in 2006. In reality, both Founders Capital and Franklin Squires bled red ink in 2005, 2006, and 2007. More than $50 million of investor funds were recycled as fake returns, investigators say.

When the music stopped in 2007 and Founders Capital ceased payments, investors were left holding the bag — to the tune of approximately $47 million in losses. The indictment lays bare the collapse of trust and capital, painting Koerber as a manipulative operator who treated other people’s life savings like a personal piggy bank. Despite the financial wreckage, Koerber continued to mislead, using mail and electronic transmissions to sustain the fraud across state lines.

“In reinitiating this prosecution, the United States brings a case that the community deserves to have determined on its merits,” said U.S. Attorney John W. Huber. “Our intent is to press this matter to such a resolution. We seek a speedy public trial, without undue delay, where a jury of his peers can fairly assess the evidence against the defendant.” A summons will be issued for Koerber to appear in federal court to answer the charges.