CASE OF INTEREST

Date: March 12, 2004
Case: People v. Christine Suzanne Ney 02F09957
Contact: Mary Simmons, Deputy District Attorney, (916) 874-6565

District Attorney Jan Scully announced that following a four week trial, a Sacramento jury convicted Christine Suzanne Ney of a felony violation of Penal Code Section 327, operating an endless chain scheme.

Testimony at trial showed that Ney occupied a position of leadership within the "gifting club" Women Helping Women, eventually presenting the program at 12 separate meetings. Analysis of the group's records demonstrated that at any time during the scheme's progress, 86% or all participants were in a losing position, while only 13% were winners. Over time, the number of losers continues to grow, and the number of participants required to support the pyramid-shaped charts eventually reaches into the millions of persons. Beginning in May 2002, Ney rose to the top of the group's pyramid charts seven times, receiving "birthday" money over $53,000. She was awaiting payouts of over $180,000 when the scheme collapsed, after the Sheriff's Department served search warrants in September 2002. While Ney had claimed the program had a charitable component, evidence showed that though she received over $53,000, she only made a single $50 contribution to charity.

The defendant was the last of twelve defendants arrested in October 2002, and the only one to take her case to trial. The previously convicted by guilty or no-contest pleas were: Cheryl Bean (described as the "director" of the Sacramento area Women Helping Women), Cathy Lovely (described as an "assitant director" of Women Helping Women), Anne King, Pam Garibaldi and her two daughters, Melissa Guidera and Shannon Coolidge, Alexa Luckman; Blythe Lehman, Debi Walker, Theresa Machold, and Donna Goles.

According to Deputy District Attorney Mary Simmons, who prosecuted this case, "This verdict sends a strong message to Women Helping Women and other similar fraudulent schemes. You can call it a gifting club or a dinner party, but an illegal pyramid is still illegal, and will not be tolerated." She also thanked the Sacramento Sheriff's Department for their excellent, professional investigation.

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