Bad Boys of Bankruptcy: S2E4: The Ponzi Scheme for Music Nobody Wanted: The Curious Case of Trend Sound Promoter

Ponzi schemes have persisted around the world even before the eponymous investment scheme of Charles Ponzi in the early 1920s. This case concerns a Ponzi scheme based on the purported sale of music that nobody really wanted, which was engineered by Ukrainian-American Volodimyr Pigida and his wife, Marinia Bondarenko. The scheme resulted in roughly $22 million in fraudulent proceeds. Pigida was ultimately convicted of 26 counts in a federal indictment, including conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, and bankruptcy fraud, and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In this episode, Judge Gunn discusses the bankruptcy case filed by Trend Sound Promoter, the company the couple used to perpetrate their fraudulent scheme, with attorneys Mark Stern and Rory C. Livesey. Issues discussed include how language barriers presented issues in the bankruptcy proceedings, how the trustee located assets to liquidate for the benefit of creditors (including victims of the scheme), and how the owners of Trend Sound Promoter were ultimately brought to justice.