Barrington man charged with Ponzi scheme

A Barrington man has been charged with mail fraud in an alleged Ponzi investment scam dating back several years.

According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Daniel Spitzer, 51, who also has a residence in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, raised more than $100 million from about 400 investors for the dozen investment firms he controlled from 2004 on, but "used the vast majority - approximately $71 million - to make Ponzi payments to investors to keep his scheme afloat."

The complaint accused Spitzer of participating "in a scheme to defraud and obtain money by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises." He was specifically charged with delivering a fraudulent statement to an investor last year.

Spitzer was charged Tuesday and remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Monday.

Spitzer has already been named in a civil suit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.