As reported previously by BassFan, Team Supreme owner Nevin Gillette is accused by the state of Illinois of running a Ponzi scheme and faces charges levied by the Illinois Dept. of Securities (DOS).
The term Ponzi scheme describes a situation where an investment broker receives funds from investors, but never invests them. Instead, he or she uses part or all of those funds to pay "dividends" to previous "investors" who believe their money has been invested. According to the state, Gillette faces one count of fraud in the offer or sale of securities, and one count of failure to disclose civil litigation.
According to DOS documents obtained by BassFan, Gillette allegedly admitted to running the Ponzi scheme for a period of 9 years, and identified 40 clients from whom he'd received over $8 million to invest in guaranteed interest certificates. Gillette allegedly told DOS that those funds were never invested.
The DOS securities compliance audit of Gillette was performed Aug. 24, and charges were levied Sept. 28. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 29. Gillette's securities license has been suspended, pending the hearing. He faces a potential monetary fine of up to $1.6 million, plus additional legal costs and revocation of his securities license.
Team Supreme tournament trails does not appear in the notice of hearing, other than a reference that notes Gillette's ownership of the trail. DOS senior attorney James Nix told BassFan: "I can't comment to whether Team Supreme came up in our investigation or not. We did take an action against Mr. Gillette, and there's a public order on that, but other than saying he owns Team Supreme, (the order) doesn't indicate anything else."
BassFan also asked Nix whether Gillette could face criminal charges with a potential for jail time. Nix said: "I can't comment on whether or not there are any criminal investigations."
Team Supreme is a BassFan Army-sanctioned trail, which means its competitors may qualify to fish the Skeeter BassFan Army Weekend Warrior Championship (WWC). Team Supreme's status as a sanctioned trail is currently under review.
Al Smith, VP of member programs at BassFan, said: "We will honor the Team Supreme fishermen who've qualified this year for the upcoming 2007 WWC, but the involvement of Team Supreme in the future will be conditional to the outcome of the investigation. At this point, we're not sure what the future status of the trail will be."
Messages left for Team Supreme by BassFan were not returned. The main Team Supreme phone number has since rung through with no answer.
> In addition to its tournament business, Team Supreme also operates Team Supreme Tackle and sponsors several professional anglers.
