Man charged with 211 counts for pyramid scheme

Nov. 28--Carrizozo -- William "Bill" Turner, formerly of Turner Insurance Agency, is charged with 211 counts of fraud, forgery, securities fraud, prohibited conduct in providing investment advice, theft of identity and conspiracy.

Turner faces over 600 years in prison if he is convicted on all the charges.

Turner was to be arraigned Wednesday in Lincoln County's12th Judicial District Court in Carrizozo but Turner waived his arraignment through his attorney.

Turner said he no longer owns the agency located at 503 Central Ave. in Tularosa. He also declined comment about the charges.

Representing the state, Deputy District Attorney John Sugg said he will ask for a hefty bond of a half million dollars at a conditions of release hearing for Turner on Wednesday.

"Right now, Turner is not under any conditions of release," Sugg said. "The defense submitted a waiver of arraignment Tuesday. The state was unaware of the waiver being submitted. Turner faces over 600 years in prison in the case. That's why we think Turner is a flight risk. Turner allegedly was running a pyramid scheme on a victim in Lincoln County but his agency is in Otero County. He allegedly defrauded the victim out of $215,000 from the one victim that we know of."

According to Lincoln County 12th Judicial District Court records, Turner was officially indicted on the charges by a Lincoln County grand jury on Oct. 22 but he was never jailed nor was a bond set in the case.

Turner's other two co-defendants, Kathi Osorio and Janice Polk, are each released on unsecured bonds pending their appearance in court.

Osorio is charged with 19 counts of forgery, fraud, conspiracy and false authentication of documents by a notary public.

Polk is charged with 61 counts of forgery, fraud and false authentication of documents by a notary public.

According to the Lincoln County grand jury indictment, Turner allegedly deceived the victim by providing advice on the sale of securities to employ a scheme to defraud or take money from the victim.

Turner and his co-defendants also are accused of using fraud and forgery to sign or misrepresent security investments to take money from the victim, according to court documents obtained by the Daily News.

According to the documents, the allegations against Turner and his co-defendants took place between January 2011 and November 2011.

___

(c)2013 the Alamogordo Daily News (Alamogordo, N.M.)

Visit the Alamogordo Daily News (Alamogordo, N.M.) at www.alamogordonews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services