An Oceanside businessman pleaded guilty Thursday to swindling more than 160 people out of nearly $2 million worth of investments.
Greg Ruehle, 64, was hired by San Diego-based medical research firm ICB International Inc. to identify investors who could fund the company’s research.
Instead, he collected millions of dollars from investors and used the money for his own gambling and other personal expenses, according to his plea agreement.
Ruehle disguised and concealed his fraud by issuing the investors fake stock certificates and failing to report the purported “investment” to his company, federal prosecutors said.
Ruehle targeted investors both locally and from his hometown in Minnesota, they said.
Last year, some of the investors asked for proof that their money was being used at ICBI. In response, Ruehle sent them a letter on what appeared to be company letterhead, and purportedly signed by the company’s CEO.
In fact, the letter was a forgery, which was borne out by the fact that Ruehle misspelled the CEO’s name, prosecutors said.
ICBI remained unaware of the “investors” and never received a penny of their $1.9 million worth of investments, according to court documents.
ICBI’s mission is to develop technologies to transport therapeutic treatments through the blood-brain barrier to treat neuro-degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
According to ICBI’s website, the company develops techniques for early diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression, and increased therapeutic efficacy of drugs for neuro-degenerative diseases and various cancers that currently cannot be reached by drugs.
In addition to securities fraud charges, Ruehle pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen firearm. In his plea, the defendant admitted that he owned three firearms, including two semiautomatic pistols and a revolver. He agreed to forfeit those weapons and another revolver to federal law enforcement.
Ruehle is scheduled to be sentenced May 2 by U.S. District Judge Michael Anello.
The defendant’s plea agreement requires that he forfeit the $1.9 million in proceeds and pay restitution to the victim investors.
–City News Service
