Feds charge Barrington man in Ponzi scheme

Federal prosecutors announced charges Friday against a Barrington man they say bilked 400 investors out of more than $105 million as part of a Ponzi scheme between 2004 and July 2010.

Daniel Spitzer, 51, faces eight counts of mail fraud, according to the indictment filed in federal court Thursday. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Spitzer will be arraigned at a later date, authorities said.

The indictment alleges Spitzer sold memberships and limited partnership interest in a dozen investment funds known as the Kenzie Funds. Spitzer allegedly told victims their investments would be used to trade foreign currency, that Kenzie Funds never lost money and that they achieved historic returns.

Authorities say Spitzer used approximately $71 million to make Ponzi-type payments to earlier investors.

Spitzer told investors that the funds’ rates of investment return ranged from 4.25 percent to 13.54 percent over a five-year period, when in fact, the return on the more than $100 million invested by the victims amounted to less than 1 percent over five years, according to prosecutors.