Tom Petters Ponzi Scheme Victims Getting Their Money Back

(KNSI) – The trustee appointed to recoup losses from those who fell victim to disgraced businessman Tom Petters’ multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme says his work is almost finished.

Petters, born and raised in St. Cloud, was convicted in 2009 on several counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy charges for bilking investors across 26 countries. Petters is currently serving a 50 year prison sentence at Leavenworth.

It was Doug Kelley’s job to get Petters to repay $1.925 billion to creditors and victims. Roughly 13 years later, he says $722 million has been recovered. A handful of cases have yet to be settled, including one against the Bank of Montreal in Canada.

Petters left Minnesota in the early 1980s but returned in 1988 and started a company called Amicus Trading, which became The Petters Company to market consumer merchandise. In 1995, that became Petters Warehouse Direct and sold discount, overstock, and closeout goods from bankrupt companies’ merchandise. At one point, he even teamed up with Fingerhut in 2001 to create a new online store before buying the Fingerhut name and customer list and buildings in St. Cloud, Minnetonka, Plymouth, and Tennessee. Petters also owned Polaroid and Sun Country Airlines before his house of cards collapsed in 2008.

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