Victims of alleged Ponzi scheme seek compensation from killer's victims

Judge Scott Lipke may decide Monday whether victims of the George Joseph Family Investment Club will be compensated by the estates of George Joseph's murder victims, according to an attorney representing the claimants.

Twenty people made a claim on the estates of Mary and Matthew Joseph for $523,334 of losses related to the alleged Ponzi scheme George Edwin Joseph, 51, of Cape Girardeau operated before he shot and killed Mary, 57, and Matthew, 18, on May 30, 2013. Joseph shot himself in the head in an apparent suicide attempt in the pool house of his home at 1220 W. Cape Rock Drive, but he did not die.

Joseph, who told police officers he was depressed by financial issues, was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences Sept. 20, 2015. The lawyer for the claimants, John Ryan, said Joseph did not have assets at the time he was sentenced, and his income was the sole revenue source for his family.

"Any assets that funded life insurance or paid out to the estates, the only resource they had was Mr. Joseph's investments," Ryan said.

One of the claimants on the estates is seeking $135,000 he or she lost through fraud, and there are three other claimants seeking $58,000 or more, according to the claim, which lists only the victims by last name and first-name initial. Joseph told Scott County sheriff's detective Branden Caid in 2013 he was making investments for 60 members of an investment club.

Keith Monia

Mike Griffith, Mary Joseph's brother, was named administrator of Mary and Matthew Joseph's estates, according to court documents. Matthew Joseph's estate included about $250,000 in personal property and an amount from insurance policies that was unknown when Griffith was applying to be administrator in May 2013. Mary Joseph was determined to have $125,000 in personal property and an unknown amount in insurance policies, according to documents.

The estate of Mary Joseph was ordered to pay claims May 31 to creditors such as Citibank in the amount of $38,094 and Bank of America in the amount of $21,709.

Keith Lars Monia, 55, of Cape Girardeau invested at least $100,000 with Joseph under the auspices the funds were annuities and Monia was authorized with American Equity Investment Life Insurance Co., according to a probable-cause statement filed by Caid. Monia referred to Joseph as his friend before writing a check to Joseph, Caid wrote.

Monia defrauded four elderly people in Cape Girardeau County of about $300,000 starting in 2007 and $185,000 from Scott County residents, a Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services investigator wrote in a probable-cause statement.

Monia claimed Joseph handled all of the American Equity investments, that Joseph defrauded him and he was not guilty of any wrongdoing, Martin wrote.

"He could not offer any proof of this," Martin wrote of Monia's comments about Joseph.

Monia faces six counts of financial exploitation of the elderly, one count of forgery and one count of stealing in Cape Girardeau County. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Sept. 12 in front of Judge Benjamin Lewis in Jackson.

Monia faces three counts of financial exploitation of the elderly in Scott County, with a trial setting scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 29 in front of Judge David Dolan. He faces two counts each of financial exploitation of the elderly and forgery in Stoddard County, but there is not a hearing scheduled in that case.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 1220 W. Cape Rock Dr., Cape Girardeau, MO