50° CLEAR, Armitage pleads not guilty to $200 million Ponzi scheme
Last Modified: Friday, May 29, 2009 at 4:20 p.m.
REDDING - Gary T. Armitage, a former Santa Rosa financial adviser accused of helping orchestrate a $200 million Ponzi scheme with a Redding businessman, pleaded not guilty Friday in Shasta County Superior Court.
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Jeffrey A. Guidi, his partner in the now-defunct Santa Rosa investment firm AGA Financial, appeared in court as well, but will not enter a plea until Monday.
James S. Koenig, who owned Asset Real Estate Investment Co., the Redding-based property acquisition firm at the heart of the alleged scheme, has pleaded not guilty to 70 counts of securities fraud and residential burglary. He also appeared in court Friday.
Russell Marne, attorney for Armitage, tried to convince Judge Richard McEachen to reduce his client’s $5 million bail, which he called “outrageous.”
“He (Armitage) is not a flight risk,” Marne said. “He has no assets. He has nowhere to go.”
Robert Morgester, the deputy state attorney general prosecuting the case and who led the 17-month investigation into the alleged scheme, said Armitage sold 1,500 fraudulent securities, each carrying a lifetime sentence, and ruined more than 1,000 lives. Investors are still coming forward, Morgester said.
McEachen kept Armitage’s bail at $5 million.
Koenig, Armitage and Guidi will appear in court together June 22 for a preliminary hearing setting.
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