NEWARK, N.J. – A Nevada woman was indicted today on wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice charges related to a $7 million advance fee Ponzi scheme and obstructing the government’s investigation, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Anna Kline, formerly Jordana Weber, 33, of Sparks, Nevada, is charged by indictment with two counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, four counts of transacting in criminal proceeds, and two counts of obstructing justice. Kline is scheduled to appear before a U.S. District Judge on a date to be scheduled.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From April 2017 to July 2019, Kline owned and operated several shell companies that falsely purported to offer lending services to customers, typically small business owners seeking high value loans, often in excess of $100 million. As part of the scheme, Kline required the victim borrowers to pay up to 5 percent of a potential total loan amount as a “fee” prior to the loan being funded.
After the victim’s “fee” was paid, Kline purported to conduct due diligence on the loans. During this period, Kline frequently gave victims bogus explanations for why the funding of their loan was delayed. It was also common for the victims to be provided with falsified or fraudulent documents, including bank statements that purported to show that the shell companies had sufficient money to fund the loan.
Kline and her…
