When we first met Michael, he had just moved into our neighborhood. His new home was directly opposite our house, so I thought it would be the neighborly thing to do by taking a fruit basket to him as a welcome-to-the-neighborhood token. He seemed to be kind and he even welcomed me in for a cup of tea.

My husband, Greg, is an avid golfer, and when he met Michael at the golf club, they quickly became friends. Soon, we learned that Michael had retired early from his accountancy career to focus on real estate, but he did not mind working to fight the boredom that comes with living all alone. He told us that he was divorced with no kids, and his brother lived in New York, so they rarely met. Eventually, we decided to pay him for book-keeping services for Greg’s Restaurant, and for filing my personal taxes. He was incredible, and we built what seemed to be a lovely relationship.

One Saturday afternoon, I was baking, and Greg and Michael were chatting on the porch. I offered them some juice, and as I was going back to the kitchen, Greg asked me what I thought about investing in real estate. I pulled a seat and listened to Michael’s idea. He wanted us to join him in his real estate venture and invest $100,000 in real estate. We had worked with him, so we trusted him. Greg immediately signed a check, and they continued talking as I went about my business.

We wanted our friends to get into this lucrative deal, so we told everyone who could listen about Michael’s real estate investment opportunity. Most of our neighbors and close friends signed a check worth any amount they were willing to invest as soon as they could.  To this day, I find it baffling is that we all got statements from Michael detailing our earnings. I honestly thought that in six months, everyone in the neighborhood would be rolling in money. But this bliss was short-lived. IRS uncovered Michael’s $11 million Ponzi scheme, and he was arrested for mail fraud and tax evasion. It’s been three years since he was convicted, and nobody has ever gotten their money back. We’re really glad that our neighbors and friends didn’t blame us for losing so much money.