Folsom investment adviser charged in $10 million Ponzi scheme turns himself in

The Folsom investment adviser charged last week in an alleged $10 million Ponzi scheme surrendered Monday and was booked into the Sacramento County Jail.

John Black and two associates were charged last week by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra with fraud and other charges in a case that officials say affected more than 70 investors worldwide.

Black’s associates, Christopher J. Mancuso and Joseph P. Tufo, were arrested last week.

Becerra’s office has frozen the defendants’ assets, and federal regulators also are investigating the investment group in a civil proceeding.

Court documents say investors were promised huge returns on “foolproof” investments in foreign currency funds, but that many were unable to retrieve their funds.

Black has insisted he is innocent, and his attorney said Monday Black had done nothing improper.

“The evidence will show that Mr. Black, like so many other individuals, were taken advantage of,” attorney Todd A. Spodek wrote in an email statement. “Mr. Black believed all of the investments that he had a hand in were fully vetted and legitimate.”