[quote=massivedamagetome]You have been most helpful
How do you know for sure it was Ponzi scheme?
and
I did call a lawyer today as you suggested, they want $1,000’s upfront- I can not help but think am I throwing good money after bad. Also how hard is it to find out if Bartko has any money, even if I did hire a lawyer and won, does he have any money? I suppose there are those asset verification guys but isn’t that expensive and seems safe to assume if he did have any money he transferred it somewhere else, or someone else name?[/quote]

Massive: Then do nothing, accept your loss(es) and move on. Simple as that.

If you do plan on doing something, I would start with law enforcement. Find where his business is domiciled and contact the local police department or Sheriff’s Office and speak with a detective.

If they tell you its a civil matter (and they well might), then you can either hire an attorney (and, yes, it will cost you additional money) or do the research on your own.

Your choices aren’t good ones, unfortunately. You can either accept your $100K+ loss and chalk it up a painful life lesson or prepare to spend more money chasing your $100K and find out that Bartko has spent that on another investor (as part of the Ponzi scheme), has blown the money, or hidden it somewhere you can’t get to it.

I got burned in a bad investment deal, but was willing to spend the money to run the person to ground. It was expensive, but I got my attorney’s fees back as part of the judgment and I had to collect the judgment on my own (which is another bitch: Even if you win and are awarded a judgment, its up to you to collect). Good news on that judgment: It paid 10% a year interest on the award. It took me four and a half years to finally enforce it, but when I did, I got his car and effectively closed all of his bank accounts through the writ process.

I don’t know how much this money matters to you, but you had better be prepared to get down and dirty with this guy or walk away and call it a day.