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Two jailed for role in Ponzi scheme linked to Curtis

A Montana judge has sentenced two California residents for their roles in a Ponzi scheme involving Bermudian Andre Curtis.Shanna Raymond of Oakland and Brian Gill of San Pedro had been convicted of investment fraud and money laundering.US District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula sentenced Raymond to two years in prison and ordered the 37-year-old to pay $1.5 million in restitution.The Missoulian newspaper reported that the judge sentenced 55-year-old Gill to 18 months in prison and made him pay $570,000 in restitution.Prosecutors said Raymond and Gill agreed to promote investments by Dan Two Feathers of Hamilton, Montana.Two Feathers is serving a six-year prison sentence on investment fraud and other charges.In September, Terrance Paulin was jailed for two years and nine months and ordered to repay victims $590,000 following the scam, which saw investors conned out of more than $2.4 million.Paulin, of Missoula, Montana admitted conspiracy to commit investment fraud in a hearing before the same judge.The court had previously heard people were falsely promised huge returns on their investments, with their cash then being funnelled through a front company which had accounts at the Bank of Bermuda.Montana State Auditors Office told how Bermudian businessman Curtis, the political campaign manager for former Premier Ewart Brown, helped run the scheme. Curtis was fined $335,000 by the Montana Commissioner in November 2010. The following month, he was jailed for 15 months by the Bermuda courts for operating an unlicensed investment business.He briefly campaigned in Pembroke South East in the recent general election, but pulled out after he was sent back to prison for unpaid bills.Two Feathers, who spearheaded the scam, was jailed for six years in June. Shawn Swor, another who pleaded guilty to his involvement, was sentenced to two years and three months in July.