Prosecutors: Warren man knew of Ponzi scheme and participated in it

WARREN

A sentencing memorandum written to the judge who will sentence Warren native Keelan Harris Dec. 11 for his role in a Warren-based Ponzi scheme says Harris was responsible for the banking part of the enterprise, was aware that criminal activities were happening and participated in them.

Harris, 38, lived in Warren while assisting his brother, Kevin Harris, with the operation of companies called Complete Developments LLC and Investments International Inc. out of the former electrical workers union hall on Parkman Road Northwest from 2006 to 2008.

Authorities said CDL and I-3 offered investors foreign-exchange and currency trading programs paying interest of 7 percent to 12 percent per month. Investors, mostly from Toronto, Canada, were promised that 80 percent of their principal would be secure and would be returned at the end of their program — in 3 to 12 months.

But the scheme collapsed in 2008, when the two companies ran out of money to pay “profit” checks. In reality, the companies invested less than $1 million in foreign-currency exchange and paid investors primarily with money from later investors in a classic Ponzi scheme, investigators said.

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