Chandler man Edward Purvis admits huge Ponzi scam - Valley resident to serve at least 42 months in prison
Jan. 17, 2012 06:35 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
For more than six years, a Valley con man maintained his innocence in a fraud that bilked millions of dollars from churchgoers in Arizona and 12 other states.
But on Tuesday, Edward Purvis of Chandler pleaded guilty to orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that involved fake gold mines, phony businesses and a bogus promise to fund Christian causes with investor money.
Purvis' plea marks the latest turn in a bizarre case that since 2006 has involved the bribery of a Chandler police officer and the filing of several fake lawsuits against public officials. Purvis, who has served more than two years in state prison for bribery and harassment, was on the verge of going to trial on fraud charges when he withdrew his not-guilty plea.
As part of a deal with state prosecutors, Purvis admitted illegally controlling an enterprise and fraud, which carries a minimum prison term of 42 months.
"Seven years. It's been seven years. Justice moves slowly, but it does move along," said Tony Senarighi of Prescott, who invested $50,000 in 2005 with Purvis and later got his money back. "I just feel bad for the people who didn't get their money back. And I don't think they are ever going to get it."
Senarighi is one of hundreds of victims across the country who authorities say were duped into giving money to a Christian non-profit owned by Purvis called Nakami Chi Group Ministries International.
A Ponzi or pyramid scheme is an investment scam that uses money from new investors to pay old investors. Nakami's investors included at least one pastor, church elders and members of Chandler Christian Church and Vineyard Church in Avondale.
Vineyard Pastor John Farmer, who once acknowledged investing in Nakami and has voiced support for Purvis and Purvis' partner, Gregg Wolfe, did not return calls Tuesday.
Wolfe in 2009 turned state's evidence against Purvis and admitted that Nakami was a fraud. He agreed to testify against Purvis as part of a plea agreement. Both Purvis and Wolfe are scheduled to be sentenced on March 2.
Purvis and Wolfe promised investors they would receive 24 percent annual returns and that their money would be used to support Christian causes around the globe. Instead, court records showed, Purvis used their money for cars, jewelry, a down payment on an $800,000 home, excursions to Vegas, gambling debts, personal investments and other expenses.
Purvis and Wolfe told investors Nakami was worth $170 billion and controlled assets around the world, including gold mines, Australian developments, telecom firms, banks and a Phoenix technology company.
In 2008, Purvis, Wolfe and their wives were ordered by a civil-court judge to pay $11 million to investors defrauded through Nakami.
Purvis was also sentenced in 2008 to 18 months in prison and three years of probation for bribing a Chandler police officer and for filing a series of bogus legal claims against public officials in an attempt to derail a fraud investigation by the Arizona Corporation Commission. The commission regulates the sale of securities in Arizona.
Purvis filed similar legal claims against a Colorado financial adviser and an Arizona Republic reporter who raised questions about the size and holdings of Nakami in a series of articles in 2006.
Purvis was initially released from prison in 2009. But he was rearrested in 2010 after The Republic documented his efforts to promote a gold-mine project to potential investors. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge found that Purvis was engaged in a new investment scheme, had failed to maintain legitimate employment and was associating with a known felon -- all probation violations.
Robert Eckert, chief investigator for the Arizona Corporation Commission, testified in 2010 that Purvis and his wife, Maureen Purvis, were tied to an international money-laundering operation involving Caribbean, Swiss, Chinese and Australian corporations.
Eckert said the accounts of one company had been used to pay Maureen Purvis $5,000 a month since it was opened in 2008. Money was also being sent to Vanuatu Project Limited and a company called California Ore Processing, both of which involve a purported gold mine in the South Pacific.
One of Nakami's key investment plans involved gold ore from an abandoned manganese mine on Vanuatu, about 1,300 miles northwest of New Zealand. Purvis told investors that the ore was worth $120 billion, according to witnesses.
However, a New Zealand mine-company owner said the ore is worthless. Dave Beatson of Auckland told The Republic that he and a geologist flew to Vanuatu in 2010, collected samples and hired an independent company to test it.
Beatson, who is president of Murihiku River Prospecting Ltd., said he has tracked Nakami claims since a friend invested in 2008.
In a phone interview from New Zealand on Tuesday, Beatson said he couldn't be happier to hear that Purvis pleaded guilty.
"Justice and honesty always prevail," Beatson said. "I'm sorry for all of those people who won't get their money back. But at the end of the day, (Purvis) is sitting in an 8-by-10 cell, and he'll have a lot of time to think about what he's done."
Robert Anglen investigates consumer issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. If you would like him to look into a possible scam, fraud or deception, e-mail him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com.
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