Wayne Palmer Pleads Guilty to $140M Fraud Scheme

Wayne LeMar Palmer, 60, of West Jordan, Utah, stood in silence before Judge Clark Waddoups on Tuesday as he admitted to orchestrating a $140 million investment fraud scheme that preyed on more than 600 unsuspecting victims. Palmer, the mastermind behind National Note of Utah (NNU), pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering—crimes that dismantled retirements, drained life savings, and left a trail of financial wreckage across the Intermountain West.

From 2009 through June 2012, Palmer used NNU and affiliated shell entities to pitch investors on a golden opportunity: guaranteed returns of 12 percent per year, backed by real estate loans. But the promise was a lie. As part of his plea agreement, Palmer admitted he knowingly misrepresented NNU’s profitability and concealed the fact that the company lacked sufficient revenue to cover operating costs—let alone investor payouts. Instead, he funneled new investor cash to older investors, a classic hallmark of a Ponzi scheme.

Julieann Palmer Martin, 47, also of West Jordan and Palmer’s cousin, pleaded guilty to misprision of felony—admitting she saw the collapse coming and did nothing. As NNU’s bookkeeper from 1995 until its 2012 seizure by a court-appointed receiver, Martin had full access to the company’s financial pulse. She monitored two key bank accounts and relayed daily updates to Palmer about shortfalls. By March 2010, she knew NNU couldn’t return principal to maturing investors or cover basic expenses—yet she stayed silent.

Martin didn’t blow the whistle. She helped conceal the fraud. While aware that Palmer continued soliciting new investors even after payments stopped, she reassured clients that business was improving. She fed the illusion of stability, sending emails, making calls, and maintaining the façade that NNU was solvent. Her actions, prosecutors say, prolonged the scheme and deepened the damage—total losses now estimated at $60 million.

Under the plea deal, Palmer faces a stipulated sentence of 0 to 120 months in federal prison and has agreed to forfeit $290,000. Martin faces 0 to 24 months. Neither is currently in custody. The final restitution amounts and payment schedules for both defendants will be determined at sentencing, scheduled for September 11, 2017.

The investigation was led by FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation, with support from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. Prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, the case exposes how trust, family ties, and financial desperation were exploited in one of the state’s largest investment frauds in recent memory.