Belgian business owner in Utah sentenced to prison for $5M Ponzi scheme

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Belgian man who owned a business in Utah has been sentenced to prison after he admitted to running a $5 million Ponzi scheme that targeted “smaller” investors.

Kenny Van Der Spek, 36, pleaded guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison, and once he is released, he will serve three years of supervised release. He also must pay over $4 million in restitution to victims and forfeit property in Martinsville, Virginia and Spanish Fork.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Utah, Van Der Spek defrauded 75 investors and spent at least $3 million on real estate, a personal chef, a new 2022 Chevrolet Corvette, and online gambling.

His business was K & K Strategies, LLC, which he advertised as a hedge fund. Van Der Spek was living in South Jordan at the time.

He was not licensed to sell securities, but he told investigators that he was legally operating a hedge fund and that he was licensed. He showed fake financial records to investors to make them think that their investments with his company were succeeding. In reality, they were losing money.

Van Der Spek would live stream trades on K & K Strategies’ website so investors could “watch their money grow,” according to the press release.

He also advertised his business as a “mom and pop hedge fund,” targeting smaller investors with investments as small as $500. Those smaller investors had little or no safety nets beyond their “slowly and meticulously accumulated savings,” according to the press release. Van Der Spek reportedly told investors that he wanted to help people who didn’t have much money.

Through these actions between December 2017 and November 2023, he convinced individuals to invest in his business, misrepresenting investor funds and making false promises.

This case was investigated by the Utah Division of Securities, the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, and the IRS Criminal Investigations Phoenix Field Office.