MIAMI — South Florida federal prosecutors have charged Judith Dianne Paris-Pinder, 49, with defrauding people out of millions by lying about the nature of proposed investments (soon-to-be paid, lawyer-negotiated insurance company settlements) and the expected rate of return (50%).
Paris-Pinder was the President of Pinder Associates, Inc, a North Miami company. Prosecutors allege that from November 2019 to October 2021, Paris-Pinder used the following fraudulent sales pitch to lure investors into the scheme: She worked with lawyers representing litigation plaintiffs who had settled their claims but were still waiting for actual settlement payments from the insurance companies. Paris-Pinder would use investor funds to advance or lend to plaintiffs a portion of their settlements (less than the full settlement amount). In exchange for the advances or loans, once the litigation plaintiffs received the actual settlement payment from the insurance companies, they would turn that entire amount over to Paris-Pinder. Then, Paris-Pinder would distribute to investors their initial contributions plus any returns – which could be as high as 50%.
According to the charges, however, the entire investment scenario was a scam. Paris-Pinder did not work with lawyers representing litigation clients and there were no settlement agreements. It is alleged Paris-Pinder kept the Ponzi scheme going by using money from new investors to pay existing…
