Warren man waives detention hearing in Ponzi scheme, will remain in federal detention

Staff report

CLEVELAND

Keelan Harris, 37, of Warren, indicted last week on eight charges of mail fraud and four of money laundering, waived a detention hearing Monday in Cleveland federal court and will remain in custody without bond pending trial.

Harris is charged in a Ponzi scheme that sent his brother, Kevin Harris, to federal prison for seven years.

Keelan Harris is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 22.

A federal grand jury also indicted Karen Starr, who is from the Toronto, Canada, area, on eight counts of wire fraud connected with the case. She remains at large and is thought to be living in the United Arab Emirates.

The Harris brothers and Starr are accused of operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of $15.8 million.

The operation used the names Complete Developments LLC and Investments International Inc., which worked out of the former electrical-workers union hall on Parkman Road Northwest in Warren from 2006 to 2009.

The companies accepted money from more than 400 investors, most of them from the Toronto area, promising returns on investment of 7 percent to 12 percent per month.

The companies said they were working in the foreign-currency exchange business, but very little of the money was invested.