Zions Bank sued in connection with alleged Ponzi scheme at Utah’s Rust Rare Coin

January 8, 2019 Utah Channel 3

SALT LAKE CITY — The victims of an alleged Ponzi scheme at Rust Rare Coin are now suing Zions Bank, alleging an employee facilitated and perpetuated the fraud and that the bank was negligent in their handling of the account in question.

According to a report from Fox13Now, several plaintiffs, including Travis and Nicole Gregory and Patrick Springer, filed the lawsuit Tuesday, alleging the bank should have exercised more diligence in regard to the account and that at least one employee knew about the fraud and worked to mislead investors.

“If someone would’ve done their job, maybe I wouldn’t have lost my money,” said Travis Gregory.

Authorities stated in November that Rust Rare Coin is believed to have bilked investors for about $170 million over the course of several years. The scam involved a “Silver Pool” and promises to investors that they were buying into a stockpile of precious metals when prices were low, and profiting when metal was sold at higher prices.

“It’s devastated us. It was life savings, right? I’ll just say in the hundreds of thousands,” said Springer.

That stockpile never existed, according to authorities, and Gaylen Rust lied to investors about their potential returns.

“He had a whole story. He had a story for everything,” said Travis Gregory.

“It was really viable and he had a lot of experience,” Nicole Gregory, one plaintiff in the lawsuit, said. “Over time it was just so real. If you did have a concern, there was answers for them.”

Read the full story here: Fox13Now.com.

Written by REBECCA GREEN, BEN WINSLOW and DORA SCHEIDELL, Fox13Now.com

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