A former Iowa securities agent was sentenced in Carroll County District Court on Wednesday and is facing up to a total of 20 years in prison and more than $330,000 in fines. Fifty-seven-year-old David William Johnson, a Humboldt native who had relocated to Keller, Texas, plead guilty and appeared before District Judge Kurt Stroebe for sentencing on charges that arose from a scheme to defraud seven people of more than $10,000 each in Carroll, Webster, Pocahontas and Kossuth Counties between 2012 and 2014. According to prosecutor, Iowa Assistant Attorney General, Robert Sand, Johnson told these people the money would be invested into foreign currency with the International Bank of Meekamui, which was revealed to be a Ponzi Scheme in Papua, New Guinea. It was reported that Johnson instead deposited the money into his own personal banking accounts. A Coon Rapids resident, Carla Schaefer, gave Johnson $150,000 to invest in foreign currency and commodities. Other victims include an elderly Fort Dodge woman who gave Johnson power of attorney while in the nursing home.
