A former Belleville man and his American business partner are being blamed for the sale of a sculpture in Maryland depicting three New York firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero.
The sculpture, at the National Emergency Training Centre, was financed through a Ponzi scheme run by James Jeffery and another man through their company Coadum Advisors. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged last year Coadum raised thirty-million dollars by promising investors returns of six per cent a month, and Coadum was forced out of business.
The statue is being sold to repay investors in the company, and the artist, who is still owed 150-thousand dollars. Some of the thirty-million has been recovered, but most is still in overseas bank accounts.
