Feds: Chesco man ran Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of $16M

Robert Stinson Jr. must have one hell of a sense of humor.

"The strength of a company is derived from the integrity of its employees," reads a line on the Web site for one of his investment companies, Keystone State Capital Corp.

Ready for the punch line?

Stinson, a convicted felon from Berwyn, Chester County, was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday of using his companies to run a Ponzi scheme that's bilked $16 million from more than 140 investors.

His wife, Susan, and several other relatives are allegedly part of the scheme.

Although no criminal charges were filed against Stinson, the FBI raided his home on Blackburn Drive near Leopard Road, and several business offices in Philadelphia, an FBI official said.

For the last four years, Stinson, 55, has promised investors in his companies, the Chesterbrook-based Life's Good, Inc. and Keystone State Capital, annual returns of 10 percent to 16 percent, the SEC said.

Stinson pledged to invest money into hedge funds that offered short-term commercial-mortgage loans and properties acquired through foreclosure, among other ventures.

Last month alone, 30 investors fell for Stinson's ploy, and invested $2.3 million, the SEC said.

In a civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, the SEC offered evidence that Stinson used investors' money to pay off old investors, and fund personal splurges for him and his family. His expenditures included:

* A $21,000 luxury-yacht rental in January.

* A $68,000 Mercedes-Benz S550, purchased in Fort Washington in May.

* $51,000 worth of hotel stays in Florida in the last year, as well as $11,000 worth of trips to Citizens Bank Park during that same period.

* More than $1,500 on dinners at Center City restaurants Del Frisco's and Fogo De Chao.

"Stinson has acted, and is acting, deliberately and recklessly," the SEC wrote in its complaint.

A federal judge agreed yesterday, and granted a temporary restraining order that froze all of Stinson's assets.

His criminal history stretches back to 1986, when he was convicted on federal charges of wire fraud and larceny in Delaware, according to the SEC's complaint.

Stinson was convicted of mail fraud in Pennsylvania in 1987 and sentenced to five years' probation. He was ordered to pay a $10,700 fine, but never did, the SEC said.

He also filed for bankruptcy in 1999 and was convicted of bank fraud in 2001.