Warren man to plead guilty to role in Ponzi enterprise

CLEVELAND

Keelan M. Harris of Warren, the 38-year-old brother of imprisoned Ponzi-scheme convict Kevin Harris, is scheduled to plead guilty in federal court here Aug. 5 for his role in the enterprise.

Keelan Harris, who spent time abroad in recent years but was back in Warren when he was indicted a year ago, is facing eight counts of mail fraud and four of money laundering.

He has been held in federal detention since his indictment.

The federal court web site says Keelan Harris’ next pretrial hearing and trial dates, both in September, have been cancelled because of his decision to plead guilty. The hearing is at 11 a.m. in the Carl B. Stokes United States Court House.

The court doesn’t indicate what charges he will plead guilty to. Victims of the Ponzi scheme will be allowed to speak at the hearing.

In earlier filings, Judge Christopher A. Boyko indicated that Keelan Harris faces a possible prison term of more than 15 years.

His brother, Kevin Harris, 49, also a Warren native, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison in March 2012 for engineering a $20 million Ponzi scheme out of an office building on Parkman Road Northwest known as Complete Developments LLC from November 2006 until 2009.

The Harris brothers and Toronto, Canada, woman Karen Starr were partners in CDL and Investment International Inc., offering interest of between 5 percent and 12 percent per month on foreign-exchange trading, known as forex. They promised that 80 percent of the investors’ money was safe, but it was not, with investors losing $15.8.

Most of the 400 victims were from the Toronto area, but some were from Ohio and other areas of the United States.

Keelan Harris was president of Investment International Inc., but once told The Vindicator he only handled tasks for his brother such as taking out the trash and heading up information technology.

The scheme collapsed in 2008. A Ponzi scheme is one in which operators use the money from later investors to pay “profit” checks to earlier investors. Starr is also indicted but has not been located.