Investors tell judge tearful stories of fraud [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Dec. 13--EAST ST. LOUIS -- Olga Kuschnieryk knows the value of hard work. She survived a forced-labor camp in Eastern Europe during

"I milked nine cows a day," Kuschnieryk told a federal judge here Monday, describing life under Nazi control.

After the war, Kuschnieryk, 85, came to America, where she said she performed back-breaking labor in a Metro East meatpacking plant. She and her husband, Michael, lived in Cahokia and saved their money. Through the years, they sent more than $330,000 to Edward Moskop, a financial adviser in Belleville.

Last year, the Kuschnieryks' daughter discovered that Moskop used the money to fuel a pyramid scheme that fleeced money from about 25 people. Moskop pleaded guilty in August. On Monday, he stood before U.S. District Judge William Stiehl -- and a large gathering of his victims -- awaiting his sentence for mail fraud and money laundering.

Stiehl recessed the hearing until this morning.

The judge agreed to a prosecution request to enhance Moskop's sentencing range -- to 11 to 24 years in prison -- for ensnaring victims in the "twilight of their lives."

The penalty could largely be determined by the testimony of tearful victims who one by one recounted broken dreams, lost fortunes and shattered trust.

"We never had a vacation," Kuschnieryk said, explaining that they planned to use some of their savings to help a great-grandchild with Down syndrome.

Others, including Moskop's cousins, told of how he plied them with gifts, flowers, caring phone calls and reassurances.

Moskop, 64, operated a one-man financial services firm for roughly six years. He was barred in 1990 from selling securities after depositing $30,000 of a client's money in his own checking account. Thereafter, he pretended to have a license.

He claimed he invested clients' money in securities when he merely deposited it in a bank, according to his guilty plea. He did make $985,000 in "lulling" payments to clients to keep the scheme alive, but his investors lost more than $1.4 million.

Moskop also sold insurance and collected premiums but sometimes failed to pass them along, according to testimony.

William Word of Millstadt testified that he trusted Moskop with his homeowner's premium and now owes tens of thousands of dollars after someone was injured on his property.

Word, like many victims, said Moskop had befriended him. Word said he even invited Moskop to his wedding reception.

After accepting the invitation, Word said Moskop sold him a $120 'special event" insurance policy.

___

(c)2011 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services