German accused of pyramid scheme fraud arrested in Las Vegas

(Reuters) - A German man accused of using an Internet pyramid scheme to bilk investors of over $100 million dollars and then going on the run for five years has been arrested in Las Vegas, a U.S. official said on Sunday.

Ulrich Felix Anton Engler, 51, was arrested on Wednesday for violating U.S. immigration law, said Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Engler is wanted by German authorities on multiple criminal charges after allegedly defrauding several thousand German, Swiss and Austrian investors. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Engler is accused of using a Florida-based marketing company from June 2003 to June 2004 to promote another company which falsely claimed it traded in stocks and other securities to lure investors who lost access to their money once it was transferred to the United States.

An international arrest warrant was issued for him in 2007, but his whereabouts were unknown.

Last year, authorities began to re-examine his case and determined he was running a similar scheme in Nevada under a new name.

Engler is in custody of immigration officials and will be deported and turned over to German law enforcement authorities, Navas said.

(Reporting by Kevin Gray in Miami; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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APNewsBreak: Vegas DUI case led to German fugitive

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A fingerprint match in a Las Vegas-area drunken driving case led U.S. authorities to a German fugitive in a $100 million international fraud scheme who had been on the run for five years, authorities said Friday.

U.S. marshals recently learned that a fingerprint from a 51-year-old man arrested in February 2011 belonged to Ulrich Felix Anton Engler, and they joined Las Vegas police financial crimes detectives to locate and arrest him late Wednesday, Las Vegas police Officer Bill Cassell said.

Engler, who is accused of also using the names Joseph Miller and Joseph Walter, was being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on an immigration violation, pending his transfer to Germany, ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas said.

FBI agents and local police on Friday began tracing Engler's steps in southern Nevada, finding more than 1,000 pieces of artwork at a storage facility he rented in Boulder City, about 25 miles east of Las Vegas.

"We're investigating what, if any, criminal activity Mr. Engler might have been involved with in Las Vegas," Cassell said. "This individual used multiple identities and was accomplished at concealing his true identity."

FBI agent Patrick Turner in Las Vegas said the warrant search at the storage facility was an effort to recover proceeds on behalf of alleged fraud victims.

A local court in Mannheim and Hamburg, Germany, issued a warrant in December 2007 accusing Engler of multiple criminal fraud charges, according to an ICE statement. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Engler had also been named in a March 2010 notice from the international police agency Interpol.

He is accused of using a marketing company called Private Commercial Office in Cape Coral, Fla., to build an Internet pyramid scheme. From June 2003 to December 2004, it collected almost $101 million from more than 3,500 investors in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, authorities said. Once the money reached the United States, investors lost access to it.

When the arrest warrant was issued in Germany, Engler was believed to have been living in Florida.

Last year, U.S. marshals and Interpol officials in Washington determined Engler was living in Nevada under the name Joseph Miller.

Records show that a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper issued Engler a summons on Feb. 11, 2011, for failure to drive in a marked lane and driving under the influence of alcohol. The disposition of the DUI case could not immediately be determined Friday.

It was not immediately clear what name Engler used at the time or whether he was represented by an attorney.

ICE Director John Morton called Engler's capture after five years "a welcome day and an important step" toward providing his victims a measure of relief and justice in Germany.

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APNewsBreak: German fugitive arrested in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A German fugitive who had been sought for five years in a fraud scheme that netted more than $100 million has been arrested in Las Vegas, authorities said Friday.

Ulrich Felix Anton Engler, 51, was arrested in the Las Vegas area late Wednesday, Las Vegas police Officer Bill Cassell said.

Engler, who is accused of also using the names Joseph Miller and Joseph Walter, was being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on an immigration violation, ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas said.

The FBI and local police on Friday seized more than 1,000 pieces of artwork from a storage facility that Engler was renting in Boulder City, about 25 miles east of Las Vegas.

FBI Agent Patrick Turner in Las Vegas called the warrant search an effort to recover proceeds on behalf of alleged victims of the scheme.

Engler had been named in a warrant issued in December 2007 by a court in Mannheim and Hamburg, Germany, on multiple criminal fraud charges, according to an ICE statement. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

He had also been named in a March 2010 notice from the international police agency INTERPOL.

Engler is accused of using a marketing company in Cape Coral, Fla., to build an Internet pyramid scheme. From June 2003 to December 2004, it collected almost $101 million from more than 3,500 investors in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, authorities said. Once the money reached the United States, investors lost access to it.

When the arrest warrant was issued in Germany, Engler was believed to have been living in Florida.

Last year, U.S. marshals and INTERPOL officials in Washington determined he was living in Nevada under the name Joseph Miller.

ICE Director John Morton called Engler's capture after five years "a welcome day and an important step" toward providing his victims a measure of relief and justice in Germany.

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German fugitive arrested in Las Vegas

A German man sought in Europe for alleged participation in a $100 million pyramid scheme has been arrested here after five years on the run, US immigration authorities said.

Ulrich Felix Anton Engler, 51, was arrested late Wednesday by US immigration authorities and police in the gambling capital and was being held for violating US immigration law pending deportation.

"Mr Engler's capture after five years on the run is a welcome day and an important step in addressing a fraud in excess of $100 million," said John Morton, the director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency ICE.

"I hope Mr Engler's victims in this case feel a measure of relief that Mr Engler's fraud and long run are over and that he will soon face justice in Germany for his alleged crimes."

Engler was wanted in Germany on multiple criminal charges stemming from the pyramid fraud allegedly perpetrated from June 2003 to December 2004 through a financial firm he set up in Cape Coral, Florida.

Charges carrying up to 20 years in prison were filed against him in Mannheim and Hamburg, Germany in 2007.

Engler allegedly used the Internet to lure in investors from Austria, Germany and Switzerland with false claims that he traded in shares and security through his investment company, "Private Commercial Office ins," ICE said.

Investors placed a little under $100,897,00 with Engler's company, according to ICE.

"Once they had transferred the money to the United States, they no longer had any possibility to access the money," it said in a statement.

US authorities began reviewing the case in 2011 and determined that Engler had shifted his operation to Nevada, where he was living under a new identity in the name of Joseph Miller, ICE said.

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