By KMOV Web Producer
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A St. Louis-area lawyer is indicted on 22 federal charges, alleging he bilked investors of more than $52 million through a Ponzi scheme.
The indictment of 62-year-old Martin Sigillito of Webster Groves was handed down in April and unsealed Wednesday. Two other lawyers, 66-year-old James Scott Brown of Leawood, Kan., and 67-year-old Derek J. Smith of England, were also named and face one count each of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Sigillito's attorney did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment, but has said his client will clear his name. It wasn't immediately clear if the other men had attorneys.
Dennis Baker, head of the FBI office in St. Louis, says the amount stolen is the most taken in a Ponzi scheme ever in eastern Missouri.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
