SANTA ANA, Calif. — An investment adviser accused of operating one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history pleaded innocent Tuesday to mail fraud and other charges.
James Paul Lewis Jr., 57, also said he did not have enough cash to pay for an attorney, a claim that caused some of the alleged victims attending the federal court hearing to snicker.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Nakazato ordered Lewis jailed until a bail hearing next Tuesday. A trial date was set for April 13.
Attorney Paul Meyer, who earlier had indicated he would represent Lewis, said his former client could not afford private counsel. The judge appointed a public defender for Lewis, but Meyer indicated he would be there for the bail hearing.
Lewis, who ran an Orange County firm called Financial Advisory Consultants, was indicted Feb. 4 on five counts of mail fraud and nine counts of money laundering. He was arrested last month at a Houston hotel room after he allegedly fled Southern California following a raid by FBI agents at his offices.
Authorities believe Lewis bilked at least $200 million from thousands of clients nationwide by promising return rates as high as 40 percent through a number of funds he held. He allegedly used the money from new investors to make payments to his old clients.
The California Corporations Department has identified Financial Advisory Consultants investors in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, Georgia and California, according to an FBI affidavit.
Many of Lewis' investors learned of his company through friends at church. Clients say Lewis is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his first clients came from that community. But over the years, his investors came from churches of many other denominations as well.