https://kutv.com/news/local/utah-man-indicted-on-securities-fraud-accused-of-running-ponzi-scheme-chef

A Utah man accused of defrauding roughly 75 investors out of millions of dollars was federally indicted on Thursday.

Kenny Van Der Spek, owner of K&K Strategies, LCC was indicted on securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges.

According to the federal court filing, Van Der Spek "operated a Ponzi scheme", convincing investors that their investments were profitable. Documents say "Van Der Spek used investment money from one investor to pay the promised returns to a different investor. (He) created the false impression that the investment was profitable, that the investment was safe and secure, and that the promised returns were being generated."

Investigators noted Van Der Spek's case is based on roughly six years of running K&K Strategies, from December 2017 to December 2023. Federal investigators also published Van Der Spek was not licensed to sell securities, did not make an overall profit justifying a reported return on investments, paid out investor returns using other investor funds and used over $3 million of the funds investors invested with K&K Strategies for his own personal use and benefit, including purchasing real estate and hiring a personal chef.

"Defendant VAN DER SPEK made or caused to be made Ponzi payments of approximately $1 million to investors, to give the illusion of profitability, and representing these payments as profits from his trading," wrote federal investigators in the indictment filing. "Defendant VAN DER SPEK collected more than $5 million from approximately 75 investors across the United States in connection with the K&K Strategies investment offering."

A social media page created on December 1, 2023 featured posts by people claiming to have knowledge of Van Der Spek and K&K Strategies. The most recent posting from February, 2024 noted federal investigators were involved in the case.

Utah Department of Commerce published a survey for potential investment victims to fill out.

"The Division is conducting a confidential inquiry to evaluate KNK Strategies compliance under the Utah Uniform Securities Act," wrote the department on the cover page of the survey. "The Division regularly conducts these types of inquiries and surveys investors about their investment experiences. The fact the Division is conducting an inquiry does not mean that violations of securities rules or laws have occurred, as such you are asked not to divulge information pertaining to this inquiry to other parties."