Prosecutors: Los Angeles man cheated investors out of $10M with NASCAR merchandise scheme

Prosecutors: LA man cheated investors out of $10M

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles man has pleaded not guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that cheated about 50 investors in a NASCAR merchandise wholesale business out of at least $10 million.

Federal prosecutors say 63-year-old Eliott Dresher was arraigned and ordered held pending trial in U.S. District Court Monday.

The U.S. attorney’s office says Dresher claimed investors’ money would be used to buy NASCAR apparel and sell it to stores. He claimed he had $70 million in various accounts and his business would return 20 percent every six months.

Dresher ran his scheme for about 10 years before it collapsed last year when he couldn’t make payments to investors.