Utsick Receiver Eyes Insurance

In his 12th report on the condition of the receivership, filed June 18 in Miami, Fla., the attorney recaps rather mundane outstanding issues such as the resolution of a dispute with Jacobsen Venue Management New Zealand and the sale of land once earmarked for an amphitheatre near Jacksonville, Fla.

Those combined transactions make up most of the $3.37 million Goldberg says he holds in trust for victims of what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has labeled a Ponzi scheme, in which some 3,000 investors lost more than $300 million. If Goldberg were to pay out the amount in trust, he says, it would amount to about a 2.1 percent additional distribution per victim, according to the report. But wait – there’s more.

“Based on the fact that Utsick is currently in jail and is not believed to be in the greatest of health, the Receiver, based on the guidance and advice of the Investor Advisory Panel, has decided to continue to pay the insurance premiums as it is the belief that this affords the best opportunity for an additional significant recovery versus the minimal distribution that would be made to investors from the funds on hand,” Goldberg wrote.

In other words, Goldberg is waiting on nature to take its course while “exploring the possibility” that any investors willing to pay the roughly $700,000 in annual premiums while waiting for Utsick’s death may collect on those insurance policies.

Utsick was arrested in Brazil last year and extradited to Miami, where he currently is behind bars awaiting trial expected to begin Nov. 2. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud and money laundering.