Midlothian Man Arrested for Involvement in Precious Metals Fraud

RICHMOND, VA—James F. Price, 61, of Midlothian, Va., was arrested today following his indictment on four counts of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Michael F.A. Morehart, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Richmond Field Office; and Keith A. Fixel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Charlotte Division, made the announcement after Price’s initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Dennis W. Dohnal.

According to court documents and court proceedings today, Price ran a business called Madison Precious Metals, which collected funds from investors, falsely claiming that it would use the funds to purchase precious metals. Price then converted those funds to his own use. The indictment alleges that Price obtained just over $6.1 million dollars as a result of the scheme.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Assistant United States Attorney Michael C. Moore is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Criminal complaints are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The investigation has been coordinated by the Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force, an unprecedented partnership between criminal investigators and civil regulators to investigate and prosecute complex financial fraud cases in the nation and in Virginia. The task force is an investigative arm of the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, an interagency national task force.

President Obama established the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.