Son of Ponzi schemer agrees to repay $313,000

by Keith KINNAIRD<br
| March 29, 2010 9:00 PM

SANDPOINT — The son of a former Bonner County man accused of orchestrating a $2 million Ponzi scheme has agreed to pay a judgment of more than $313,000.

The stipulated judgment against Luke D. Lowell was entered in 1st District Court on Monday.

Lowell, 30, is the son of Dale Edward Lowell, who allegedly defrauded nearly two dozen investors in a bootleg stock options trading business that cratered in 2009.

The Idaho Department of Finance sued 57-year-old Dale Lowell last year and won a $2 million civil judgment after Lowell failed to contest or otherwise respond to the litigation.

The department alleged that Dale Lowell was selling investments contracts without a licenses and overstating his trading abilities.

Dale Lowell also falsely claimed that the investments were risk-free and backed by his personal assets, the department asserted. He also failed to disclose to newer investors that their money was being used to pay off older ones.

When the Ponzi scheme collapsed, Dale Lowell allegedly admitted in an e-mail to jilted investors that 99.99 percent of his representations were 100 percent false, according to court documents.

Luke Lowell was accused by the state of being the beneficiary of improper cash transfers made by his father. The state argued the elder Lowell was making the transfers to the younger Lowell to protect the ill-gotten gains from being seized.

In addition to periodic transfers between 2005 and 2009, Dale Lowell transferred $194,849 to a local title company so his son could purchase property. All told, the department said Luke Lowell received $313,686.

The terms of the joint agreement between Luke Lowell and the department require him to pay back the money he received from his father. Lowell also agreed to sell the home he purchased, with 90 percent of the proceeds going back to the state to pay off duped investors.

The state is allowing Luke Lowell to keep 10 percent of the proceeds as an incentive to get the most money he can for the home, court records indicate.