Earlier this week, federal prosecutors and the United States Securities & Exchange Commission filed two separate but related complaints against Dawn J. Bennett, a former registered representative of Western International Securities, Inc. alleging that she conducted a massive $20 million Ponzi scheme.
When the FBI raided Bennett’s home, there were the accoutrements of excess, and her closet was supposedly clogged with hundreds of pairs of shoes, but FBI agents also discovered biographical information on attorneys with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and handwritten notes detailing something called a “Beef Tongue Shut Up Voodoo Spell,” a procedure calling for slitting open an animal tongue.
Another note was scratched with an incantation: “I cross and cover you[,] come under my command[.] I command you to hold your tongue.”
Then, in two of her freezers, the shelves were crowded with dozens of sealed jars, many inked on the lids with the initials of SEC staff.
According to an affidavit filed by the FBI in federal court this week, Bennett, who had previously contested the jurisdiction of the SEC, “many times cast a ‘voodoo spell’ in hopes of paranormally silencing the SEC attorneys” handling her case.
According to the Complaints, Bennett largely targeted elderly and financially unsophisticated investors by materially misrepresenting her company’s profitability and by claiming the company had the resources to pay annual rates of return as high as 15%. Bennett also lied about her company’s extensive liabilities and the risks associated with the investment. Although Bennett claimed the funds would be used for corporate purposes, she used the proceeds for a variety of improper purposes, including payments to earlier investors in the nature of Ponzi scheme, to service debt, and a variety of luxuries, such as jewelry, high-end clothing, mystics, and a $500,000 annual lease for a luxury suite at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
From 2014 to 2017, she raised $20 million from 46 investors.
Bennett also, in a separate matter, was barred by the SEC from the securities industry, and was being investigated for misrepresentations regarding the amount of her assets under management and the performance of those assets.
Bennett also hosted a radio show “Financial Myth Busting With Dawn Bennett.”
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