Two men accused of $80 million in fraud related to ATM business

Two men allegedly swindled around $80 million from investors who believed they were putting money into an ATM business, New York prosecutors said Monday.

Vance Moore of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Walter Netschi of McKinney, Texas, were charged with nine counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. According to the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan and the FBI, two men collaborated to defraud investors by taking $80 million from people who thought that they were building a legitimate business of installing automated teller machines across the United States. The two men were said to run the fraudulent scheme from 2005 to January 2008. They told potential investors they own various companies including ATM Financial Services, Reuters.com reports. The two also told investors they have bought 4,000 ATMs. However, after further investigation it was determined about 90 percent of the machines did not exist. FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge, Joseph Demarest, said it was a "classic Ponzi scheme." Ponzi schemes have gained a great deal of attention in recent media coverage after Bernie Madoff bilked investors out of billions of dollars. According to Reuters, Netschi's attorney said his client would plead not guilty and Moore's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.