New York Attorney General Letitia James on Jan. 7 announced that two men, one of whom is from White Plains, have been charged with operating a Ponzi scheme that went on for nearly a decade and defrauded investors from New York and elsewhere to the tune of more than $1 million.
A complaint lists 42 felony counts against James W. Doyle, 72, of White Plains and Carl R. Carro, 59, of the village of Walton in Delaware County, about 100 miles from White Plains in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.
The complaint charges that Doyle and Carro presented themselves as being the managing directors of headhunting companies Endeavor Management Solutions, LLC and Endeavor Consultancy, LLC and engaged in multiple counts of money laundering, grand larceny, securities fraud and scheme to defraud.
The felony complaint, signed by a detective in James”™ office, says that between at least January 2012 and December 2020, Carro and Doyle solicited investments in those companies from more than 50 victims from New York and other states. It went on to say that Doyle and Carro promised investors quick returns of up to 20% on their money. It also provided examples of their alleged use of money received from new investors to pay what was owed to prior investors.
Carro and Doyle allegedly misrepresented to investors that Endeavor was a headhunting firm hired by prestigious clients to find candidates for openings on their boards of directors. Carro and Doyle are charged with luring investors with false promises of interviews for board positions, then offering purported no-risk investment opportunities in their firm. The two defendants allegedly promised their victims that investments would be held in an untouched cash reserve fund that they claimed held more than $1 million and guaranteed a 10% to 20% return on investments after 30 days.
According to the complaint, an audit by the attorney general”™s office determined the pair spent nearly $500,000 on cash withdrawals, more than $200,000 to pay credit card bills and more than $57,000 on pet expenses among other things.
The defendants also allegedly engaged in a complex money-laundering scheme, using bank accounts at multiple financial institutions in an effort to disguise and conceal the true source and ownership of money.
The felony complaint was filed in Walton Town Court and Carro and Doyle were arraigned before Judge Jacqueline Lamport. Carro was remanded and Doyle was released on his own recognizance.
