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I just spoke to the fine folks at State of Colorado DORA (Department of Regulatory Agencies), Division of Securities and, apparently, they have not yet put the information about this latest alleged Ponzi scheme based in Colorado online. I could also not find online Friday's court order freezing the assets of Mueller and his companies, Mueller Capital Management, LLC. and Mueller Over Under Fund LP. So, here is the information as reported by Denver Post and 9News - at least somebody is on the ball informing consumers!

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Alleged Colorado Ponzi schemer threatens suicide
By Steve Raabe
The Denver Post

A Greenwood Village hedge-fund manager threatened to kill himself Thursday after notifying clients that he had lost their money in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Sean Michael Mueller, 41, told clients via e-mail this week that he had "no good options left." He then launched an interrupted suicide attempt and subsequently was hospitalized, according to court documents.

A Denver District Court judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order, freezing the assets of Mueller and his companies, Mueller Capital Management LLC and Mueller Over Under Fund LP.

Colorado Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph said he filed for the order after receiving a complaint from an unidentified investor and learning of Mueller's suicide attempt.

"I was obviously concerned about his state of mind, and knowing of (the suicide attempt), I decided to try to freeze whatever assets remain," Joseph said.

Joseph said he had no information on the size of Mueller's hedge fund, the amount of money lost or the identity of investors.

Investors are believed to have included some prominent Colorado residents.

In e-mails this week to investors, Mueller said, "I don't know where to begin, so I will start with, I'm sorry. The stress of life has overwhelmed everything else. Please realize that I didn't set out to end this way, I always thought I could pull it out in the end but events sped up to end that dream," according to court documents.

A private placement memorandum for the Mueller Over Under Fund filed in 2002 said the fund would attempt to raise $100 million, with minimum individual investments of $500,000.

The offering said it would engage in short-term trading of stocks — sometimes holding them for as little as a few minutes — and would borrow money in order to leverage investors' funds, according to court filings.

The state securities division said the complaint from the unidentified investor "expressed concern that Mueller was effectively operating the fund as a Ponzi scheme, representing that he has never lost money in any monthly period and providing investors with inflated expectations of returns."

In a Ponzi scheme, operators use newer investment contributions to pay off earlier investors.

Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com

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State Investigates alleged Ponzi scheme
Lori Obert Eric Kahnert

DENVER - A Colorado money manager is under investigation for running an alleged Ponzi scheme. State Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph says this could be one of the largest investment scams in state history.

Late last week, a judge decided to freeze the assets of DTC business, Mueller Capital Management. Investigators think 41 year-old Sean Mueller was running a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme, which they say could include clients that are high-paid Colorado athletes.

Mueller Capital was shut down by the state last week.

"I would allege there's a Ponzi scheme," Joseph said.

Joseph has been investigating Mueller for a month. The investigation really took off last Thursday, when court documents revealed Mueller had attempted to take his own life by jumping off a building. Investigators were able to stop him.

Joseph says Mueller claimed to have a complicated investment strategy to make it sound like investors could make a lot of money on returns. Joseph says before Mueller's attempted suicide, Mueller sent out emails to investors.

"It would appear to be a suicide note, and based on his actions, that's what he appeared to do," Joseph said.

9NEWS obtained copies of those emails; one of them was titled "thank you and sorry."

"Just based on the wording of the letters, he has in fact lost the money and there is no hope," Joseph said.

Joseph says Mueller's company asked for a minimum investment of a half million dollars.

"We're talking serious money here," Joseph said.

Joseph is trying to figure out who the investors were, but he says it is possible the list includes some prominent Coloradans.

"We could be talking about professional athletes, dentists, doctors," Joseph said.

In the emails, Mueller tells his investors "...nobody had any idea what was happening except me."

Joseph asked a judge last week to freeze assets of Mueller Capital Management, alleging Mueller violated the antifraud provisions.

"I'll allege that he took it from the money that came in from the later investor to pay the earlier investor ... that's a Ponzi scheme," Joseph said.

Joseph has issued subpoenas for records to find out where the money came from, and where it went.

9NEWS stopped by Mueller's DTC office on Monday, but it was locked. A note on the door asked investors to contact the state's Department of Regulatory Agencies.

Joseph confirmed that is the department investors are urged to call.

Investigators tell us Mueller was not arrested. Court documents say after his attempted suicide he was taken to the hospital for evaluation and treatment.

9NEWS tried contacting Mueller for a comment, but we were unsuccessful. 9NEWS also tried the lawyer listed as Mueller's legal counsel, but calls weren't returned as of Monday night.

The Securities Commissioner says his office has noticed a 15 percent increase in Ponzi schemes this year.

He thinks it's because the economy is forcing some investors to pull their money out, and that's when the investors learn the Ponzi scam artist can't pay them anything.

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