Accused Ponzi schemer won't hand over submarine; he's jailed

Image: HikingArtist.com/Flickr

Trevor G. Cook, who along with business partner and nationally syndicated radio host Patrick J. "Pat" Kiley, is at the center of a massive investor fraud investigation, has been ordered jailed by a federal judge in Minneapolis because he has refused to hand over more than $35 million in frozen assets.

"Mr. Cook has elected to disregard the court's orders and will now be a guest of the federal correctional system until he mends his ways," Merri Jo Gillette, Director of the SEC's Chicago Regional Office, said in a statement.

Among the assets U.S. District Court Judge Michael David wants to see returned: $27 million located in offshore accounts, a BMW and two Lexus automobiles, a submarine, a houseboat, a collection of expensive watches, a collection of Faberge eggs, Bon Jovi concert tickets, and $670,000 in cash.

Cook, of Burnsville, and Riley, of Minneapolis, are accused of running a $190-million Ponzi scheme in part from the Van Dusen Mansion in Minneapolis, and victimizing more than 1,000 investors.

Court documents on file with the SEC show that they purchased the Van Dusen property for $2.8 million in 2007. On Jan. 21, Davis ordered the mansion sold and the proceeds administered by a court-ordered receiver.

The 23,000 square-foot property is now being offered by Minneapolis real estate agent Jimmy Fogel for $2.2 million. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and by the Minneapolis Heritage and Preservation Commission, and was used by the Coen brothers as a backdrop in 2008 while filming their new movie, "A Serious Man."