9 months ago
Macon federal officials on Tuesday assigned the alleged Ponzi scheme case to Jack Camp, a federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia.
The reassignment came one business day after attorney Reza Sedghi filed a motion to revisit a magistrate judge's decision denying bond for accused schemer Saundra Pyles.
A federal spokeswoman said the request to revisit would be forwarded to Judge Camp for consideration.
Last month, a federal grand jury indicted Pyles and Gary Hutcheson on money laundering and mail fraud charges. The charges stemmed from a hedge fund operation that received $2.1 million in investments.
The indictment says the pair pocketed more than $1 million for themselves. It also says Pyles and Hutcheson paid previous investors with money from new investors.
Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Leon Barfield of Augusta revoked the unsecured bonds for Hutcheson and Pyles and ordered them held in jail until their trials.
Court documents say Hutcheson and Pyles left Macon last fall after learning the hedge fund was under investigation. They were arrested in Colorado last month.
A magistrate judge in Colorado released the two on the unsecured bonds, but stipulated they could not contact any family members, witnesses or the 52 people who had invested in the hedge fund called Georgia Ionics.
During a hearing last week, FBI agent Eric Gonzales testified that both Pyles and Hutcheson had contacted people in violation of stipulations of the bond. Gonzales also testified that some of those people felt threatened by the pair.
Judge Barfield revoked their bonds.
Local federal authorities withdrew themselves from the case because they either knew or had professional dealings with some of the people who invested in the alleged Ponzi scheme.
Hutcheson's attorney hasn't filed any motions regarding bond, federal officials say.
