Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Kenny Dirk Van Der Spek faces charges for a $5 million Ponzi scheme.
- He allegedly used investor funds for personal luxuries, misleading clients about profits.
- Van Der Spek's company, K & K Strategies, deceived 75 investors over six years.
SALT LAKE CITY — A South Jordan man is accused of operating a $5 million Ponzi scheme in Utah and using the earnings to purchase real estate, a personal chef and a sports car.
Kenny Dirk Van Der Spek, aka Kenny Vanderspek, is charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The "Belgian national" is the owner of K & K Strategies, a Utah limited liability company with an address in Salt Lake County, a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Utah said.
The alleged fraud occurred between December 2017 and December 2023 with investors in Utah and across the country through his company K & K Strategies. The company's "purported business purpose was to help people who were not wealthy invest and to teach about stock trading," charges state.
Federal prosecutors accuse Van Der Spek of lying and manipulating clients to convince them to invest in a hedge fund he wasn't licensed to operate. He also represented their investments as succeeding through fabricated financial records even though the investors were suffering losses.
Van Der Spek "displayed an alleged 'livestream' of trades on knkstrategies.com so investors could 'watch (their) money grow,'" the charges state.
"It was the object of the scheme ... to fraudulently obtain money from investors through false statements, misrepresentations, deception, fraudulent conduct and omissions of material facts, and thereafter cause the money to be diverted for defendant Van Der Spek's personal benefit," the charges state.
The investors entrusted their funds to K & K Strategies for day trading purposes, but Van Der Spek is accused of using around $3 million of the funds for personal benefit, including for real estate purchases, investor payouts, a personal chef and a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette, according to the charges.
In total, he defrauded more than $5 million from 75 investors, according to the charges. He also failed to disclose to investors that he was not licensed to sell securities, the charges state.
"In order to convince investors and potential investors ... Van Der Spek used investment money from one investor to pay the promised returns to a different investor. In this way, defendant Van Der Spek created the false impression that the investment was profitable, that the investment was safe and secure and that the promised returns were being generated," court documents state.
