Valleywide : Pair Must Pay Fine in Pyramid Scheme

Two men who tried to solicit police officers to join a pyramid scheme were ordered to pay fines after pleading no contest to operating the scam, said Deputy City Atty. Mark Lambert.

Arthur Bart, 38, of Woodland Hills and Terry Madigan, 38, of Canyon Country were sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles Municipal Court to pay $8,600 in fines and restitution, according to the city attorney’s office.

Each man must pay $2,700 in penalties and fines, $1,600 each to the State Restitution Fund, and each was placed on two years’ probation, Lambert said.

According to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, two police officers from the Foothill Division learned through an anonymous call last July about a scheduled meeting in Sun Valley.

Four officers posing as interested participants went to the meeting and were invited by Bart to join for $2,000, Lambert said. Bart and Madigan promised the officers that their profits would increase as more people joined the scheme. More than 50 other potential investors attended the meeting, authorities said.

A few days later, Lambert said, three officers attended a follow-up meeting at Madigan’s West Hills office, where they were asked to invest money.

Officers then arrested Madigan.