Aurora man gets 63 months for $9 million Ponzi scheme

An Aurora man who pleaded guilty to running a $9 million Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to 63 months in prison and must pay more than $4.5 million in restitution, according to prosecutors.

Algird M. Norkus, 67, formerly of Sugar Grove pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges on March 10 admitting he falsely told investors that his company, Financial Update, would return guaranteed dividends on investments, according to prosecutors.

In reality, Norkus made Ponzi-type payments to some investors with other clients’ money and used some investments to benefit himself, prosecutors said.

Norkus told investors the money would be used to purchase lists of prospective customers for Financial Update, and issued promissory agreements to investors to evidence their payments, according to prosecutors.

Norkus also admitted to providing investors with false Internal Revenue Service forms of interest income.

Norkus must serve three years of supervised releases after his three year prison stint and pay restitution of $4,560,975.

Legendary Illinois high school boys basketball coach Gene Pingatore of St. Joseph High School was a victim of the scheme and filed a suit against Norkus in February 2011.

Pingatore, the winningest boys basketball coach in the state’s history, was a longtime friend of Norkus’ and began investing with him in the late 1970s.

In 2007, Pingatore said Norkus persuaded him into investing into the promissory notes to protect his investments. Pingatore put in about $500,000 over several years, he said.

In January, Pingatore and other investors turned to authorities after they lost track of Norkus.