Apparently Ponzi schemes are rife across our country and irresistible to some, both perpetrator and victim.

This story is about the testimony of NH Attorney General Kelly Ayotte regarding a Ponzi scheme recently uncovered (collapsed) in NH.  The now defunct Meredith mortgage brokerage firm (FRM) is accused of operating a Ponzi scheme that bilked more than 150 investors out of as much as $80 million over a nine-year period.  http://tinyurl.com/34jzmxq

 At the heart of this hearing was how the financial regulatory agencies in NH, including the Attorney General, could have missed the warning signs from the five formal FRM complaints brought to the attention of the Attorney General’s Office and referred to the Banking Department?  Beginning in 2001!!

While there is plenty of blame to go around, there is at least a technology solution to this characteristic described in the AG’s own report: “… attorney general’s office not only failing to adequately communicate with outside agencies, but also proving incapable of sharing or recording information within its own department.”

Current case and document management technology with data sharing, if properly deployed and utilized, can solve these problems.  Cost justifying the funding is another matter but doable.