Embarrassed Elderly Woman Testifies About Being Duped Out Of $280K In Life Savings In Ponzi Scheme; Pilfered Money Included Cash Drawn From Home Equity Line Of Credit

In Los Angeles, California, the Northern California Record reports:

• The plaintiff who claims MetLife and one of its subsidiaries endorsed what turned out to be a fraudulent real estate investment fund choked up as she described the embarrassment she felt when the fund was uncovered as a Ponzi scheme in 2009.
  
  Christine Ramirez, 75, said she felt depressed, angry and too ashamed to tell her four children.
  
  “I was the parent and I invested everything I had in this company and now there was nothing left for them,” she said.
  
  During her testimony July 27 and 28, Ramirez walked through the events of the spring of 2008, when she first heard about an investment fund called Diversified Lending Group.(1) She sat with Paul Walker – her boyfriend at the time – at his dining room table, listening to an insurance agent describe a premium financing option he could use to purchase MetLife insurance products. DLG guaranteed a 12 percent return on investment, which could be used to pay insurance premiums and provide enough of a monthly income to live on.
  
  The agent, Scott Brandt, who worked for DLG, introduced himself as an employee of MetLife, Ramirez said. As a native New Yorker, Ramirez knew and trusted the insurance giant. She testified that its association with the investment fund lended credibility and made her feel secure in handing over the contents of her retirement account, personal savings and cash from a line of credit she took out on her home. In total, she invested nearly $280,000.
  
  After she lost her investment, she said she had to rent a room in her house to make ends meet. She also had to give up the travel plans she dreamed about for her retirement.
  
  Her belief that MetLife had approved the DLG plan was affirmed when she went with Walker to the offices of the MetLife subsidiary to hand over a check and finalize paperwork for the investment, she testified.
  
  “I felt very comfortable knowing MetLife was on the directory,” she said.
  
  But attorneys for the defendants highlighted that despite what Ramirez assumed about MetLife’s role, she never dealt with the company directly. She never purchased insurance – in fact, she never wanted insurance. Rather, she only ever took interest in the investment opportunity, which was exclusive to DLG.

For more, see 75-year-old plaintiff says she invested in DLG because she trusted MetLife; admits she should have asked more questions.

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(1) See MetLife Owes For Agents' Role In $216M Ponzi Scam, Jury Told (may require subscription; if no subscription, TRY HERE, then click appropriate link for the story):

• That alleged Ponzi scheme, [...], was run by Bruce Friedman, who fled to France after it collapsed and died in a French prison in 2012 as he fought extradition. A court-appointed receiver was able to salvage about 10 percent of the investments, [Ramirez' attorney] told jurors.