SALT LAKE CITY — A court-appointed receiver announced Monday that he has returned $23.2 million dollars to victims of what was called the largest Ponzi scheme in Utah history.
That’s still just a fraction of the estimated $200 million investors lost in the Rust Rare Coins fraud. The receiver, attorney Jonathan O. Hafen, said more money could be distributed to victims as pending litigation and claims are resolved.
In a statement, Hafen thanked a variety of federal and state agencies and his fellow attorneys at Parr Brown Gee & Loveless who worked to track down and liquidate assets.
“This has been an incredibly complicated case,” Hafen said, “and the victims and I have been well-served by these professionals, who care deeply both about the quality of their work and about successfully assisting the victims in putting their financial lives back together.”
Gaylen Rust, his then-wife and their son all pleaded guilty to fraud related to the scheme. The family operated Rust Rare Coin in downtown Salt Lake City.
According to civil and criminal court documents, beginning in at least 2008, Rust persuaded investors to put money toward silver trading.
But there was little to no trading. Some of the fraud proceeds were diverted to a $2 million home in Layton, and other businesses, including racehorses, and a mistress, according to court records.
The Rust family also sent money to music charities, Utah State University and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of those donations have been pursued by Hafen.
In 2022, Rust was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison. During his sentencing hearing, a prosecutor described the fraud as the largest Ponzi scheme on record for Utah.