Bala Cynwyd Ponzi Schemer Sentenced To Eight Years
By Tony Hanson
BALA CYNWYD, Pa. (CBS) -- A 64-year-old Bala Cynwyd man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a Ponzi scheme that cost just over 20 victims over $7 million.
Ira Pressman, who blamed an addictive personality, targeted friends, business associates, and fellow members of a 12 step addiction program.
"He took them under his wing and then cheated them out of hundreds of thousands, and in some cases, over a million dollars," says Prosecutor Louis Lappen.
And victims says he was very good—a man of dark distinction.
"People called him the Michael Jordan of scammers; they called him the mini-Bernie Madoff. He really stepped in a very cunning and calculating way and did tremendous damage to the victims' lives."
Pressman's victims were devastated, emotionally and financially; some lost life savings. One woman says she has enough money left for just two months.
