Fake CD Peddlers Agree to Return $463,000 to Kentucky Investors

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A dozen Kentucky residents who invested in fake certificates of deposits issued by two individuals, will soon have their money returned. Two persons involved in the sale of fake CDs involving a fake credit union, have agreed to pay back investors $463,192 according to Kentucky State Attorney General Greg Stumbo. Stumbo said Robert A. Halcombe of Michigan and Dover Holland of Alabama, told people they were investing in CDs with the fictitious World Bank Staff Credit Union although the money was actually placed in a bank account under one of their names. Halcombe was also doing business at the Center for Humanitarian Outreach and the Revod Foundation Inc. in Utah. As part of the settlement reached, Halcombe and Holland agreed to pay back the money to investors and to reimburse the state $10,000 for the cost of bringing the lawsuit. The two also agreed not to solicit investments from Kentucky residents until they are registered to do so and not to make any misleading or deceptive statements when soliciting investments in Kentucky. County officials became suspicious when the Clark County Fiscal Court here was asked to invest more than $3 million in the CD scam. Clark County then contacted state officials. Stumbo had previously told Credit Union Times that the fake credit union is not affiliated in any way with the Bank-Fund Staff FCU, based in Washington, D.C., which serves employees of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. According to NCUA records, the World Bank Staff Credit Union does not exist.