homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Business


Subscriber content preview

July 1, 2009

Investors: Ore. developer ran Ponzi scheme

  • The developer, Joe LaCoste, is back in business with Witham Investments — launched the same month that the old company crumbled.
    • By DIANE DIETZ
    The (Eugene) Register-Guard

    ALBANY, Ore. — The FBI, one bankruptcy trustee and 88 investors are hot on the money trail behind Albany real estate developer Joe LaCoste, court records show.

    As CEO and major shareholder of the now-defunct Willamette Development Services, LaCoste amassed $17.8 million from bank loans and investors for 10 projects in Western Oregon. But he failed to complete a single project and now the money can't be accounted for, according to the FBI and court records.


     
    . . .


    To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



    
    Email or user name:
    Password:
     
    Forgot password? Click here.