Columbus: army warns against Ponzi scammers

Fort Benning has placed two businesses off-limits to all military personnel. They are suspected of running an illegal investment scam.

The step comes amidst a federal and state investigation of two companies, the "Capital Consortium Group," and, "3 Hebrew Boys."

Both companies, registered in South Carolina, are suspected of targeting soldiers with an illegal investment strategy called a "Ponzi" scheme. In such a scam, the perpetrator promises the investor big returns, fast, but instead only uses their money to pay back previous investors.

Staff Judge Advocate Colonel Lyle Cayce at Fort Benning says the companies are promising investors, "...a guaranteed 10 percent per-month return -- 120% a year -- and if they invested money and tied to their mortgage, or their car or their credit card debt, that those debts would be paid off. And they could own their homes, their cars, or their credit cards, you know, free."

Cayce warns potential investors that if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is. He also warns people who live in the Chattahoochee Valley area to avoid such businesses.