(AP) — A 73-year-old man reported missing by his family faces a $113 million judgment from the Federal Trade Commission over a get-rich-quick scam.
The Contra Costa Times reports court documents show the FTC sued John Nelson Beck, of Alameda, in 2009 claiming he and five other defendants scammed hundreds of thousands of customers who bought his "system" to learn how to flip real estate.
According to the complaint customers spent $92 million buying the John Beck System, which included written materials, CDs and DVD, and another $175 million on Beck's personal coaching sessions.
The FTC won a judgment in 2012 and Beck was ordered to pay more than $113 million.
His family says he was last seen on a surveillance video boarding a San Francisco-bound train on Tuesday.
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