Tri Energy was a business enterprise run by Henry Uliomereyon Jones, better known as Dr. Henry Jones, with associates Arthur Simburg and Robert Jennings. Jones was a would-be record producer in Marina del Rey, California, running MIG Records (later renamed Global Village Records) and Marina Investors Group Inc. Jones and his associates were convicted of running a fraudulent Ponzi scheme operation and affinity fraud through Tri Energy. They defrauded over 735 people of $50 million, resulting in several court actions both civil and criminal cases, and imprisonment of the three Tri Energy associates. History Tri Energy was involved in: A coal mine venture in four coal mines in Kentucky which Tri Energy claimed were profitable and that would potentially produce a reported 99.3% emissions-free coal. In fact there were only two mines, and neither was profitable. A so-called international "gold deal" for transfer of gold from Israel to Luxembourg to United Arab Emirates through the help of an unnamed Saudi Arabian prince. The gold involved was 20,000 metric tons of bullion, twice as much gold as the entire U.S. reserves. The schemes promised to potential investors astronomical returns in a short period (reaching 100% in just 60 days). Kim Flanigan, a Mormon who owned a furniture store in Montana at the time, alerted authorities to the scam. Flanigan became alarmed when she heard her own widowed mother and her aunt were involved as both participants and recruiters for what appeared to be a classic get-rich-quick scheme. Flanigan's mother and aunts were not charged, as investigators determined they were victims of the scam. But authorities launched extensive investigations that would eventually bring down the $50 million Ponzi scheme and put its three ringleaders in federal prison. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced many tapes, transcripts and summaries of sessions conducted by the ringleaders from early 2004 to early 2005. They showed Simburg leading the meetings, with Jennings speaking about the coal mine project and Jones offering updates on the alleged gold transaction. Rulings On August 13, 2007, settlements were announced with the Tri Energy defendants, defendant Daniel J. Merriman and his companies DJM, LLC, Financial MD, Inc., and Financial MD and Associates, defendant Mildred Stultz, and relief defendant Nga Wing Lau, a.k.a. Adrienne Lau with temporary restraining order and asset freeze against the Tri Energy defendants. SEC obtained a default judgment against Jones and his companies Marina Investors Group, Inc.