Police: Woman loses $100,000 in Ponzi scheme
BEAVERTON, Ore. - Washington County sheriff's deputies say a woman was bilked out of $100,000 in a Ponzi scheme.
"What he took from me was a lot for me, for my lifetime," said Jeanne Lybecker.
Deputies say 27-year-old Kyle Higgins of Tualatin and 49-year-old Cliff Puterbaugh of Beaverton 
are behind the scheme. They both are facing several charges. Puterbaugh is being held on $2 million bail. Deputies say Higgins had a lesser role in the operation and was released on $60,000 bail.
Investigators are searching for others who may have trusted those two men with their money and lost everything.
For Lybecker, multiple sclerosis has made the simple act of walking painful for her, and now the 64-year-old is feeling the pain of losing her $100,000 investment.
"That was the money that was going to help me get through my retirement, get me the medications that I need," she said. "Obviously, MS is a progressive disease and so right now where I'm at is fine, but I'm going to get worse along the way and that money was a little bit of me being able to know that I had the ability to take care of myself. Now with that money gone, I'm struggling to figure out how I'm going to be able to take care of myself."
Lybecker said she met Higgins at a real estate investment conference. He later introduced her to Puterbaugh who she said promised to double her money, knowing she needed it to pay for future health care bills.
"They called me this morning and told me they'd been to his home and arrested him, and I just went, 'Yes'!" Lybecker said. "I've been embarrassed, I've been humiliated. I didn't want any of my friends to know what had happened, or what I had gone through. And I was sort of staying behind, but I would like to say if anybody else out there has had contact with him and that they've had the same kind of experience I've had and lost money, they need to come forward. We need to make sure that he gets stopped. And that he can never do this again."
The sheriff's office says it has identified three Ponzi scheme victims, including Lybecker. They lost $190,000 over four years. But Lybecker says investigators told her there may be as many as 25 victims.
I met Cliff many years ago and we had him at our wedding. Â I'm deeply saddened this is not the Cliff we knew I would have never imagined it. Â My thoughts go out to his children and parents good people who also must be shocked we are sad for you Cliff and those you hurt our prayers go out to them, may god have mercy on your soul!
"If it sounds too good to be true, it prob is"....better to invest in a firm that has ties to the area and one that has been in business and has a good background. Check with the BBB first.Reputable firms are out there.Be very leary of those "conferences" that come to town. Reputable firms don't need to conduct "conferences" These type's of investment schemes come and go just like one's money, and they are ready to rip off good people of their monies..And we, unfortunately, are in times where people want a "good deal" and are willing do anything to "double or triple" their monies. Unfortunately, they are cons...
I feel bad for Ms Lybecker, because NOBODY has the right to rip off other peoples' money... and some of these scammers are great actors; they know just which buttons to push to convince people of their trustworthiness and sincerity... they're "born manipulators"... as someone else posted, they are true predators.
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I get phone calls from people wanting me to "invest" with them, too...(can't imagine why, though...I don't have enough money to interest them, and never have had!)... But I won't even talk to these people; I check the Caller ID; if it's a number or name I don't recognize - or can't be fairly sure it's somebody I want to talk to - I let it go to my voice mail (usually, there's no message left).  If it's a number I recognize as a telemarketer, I just disconnect it. Â
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As for the 2 scammers in this story, try 'em, convict 'em.. then... well, I like that idea of a work camp, with earnings going towards restitution and also the cost of feeding & housing them!  Â
this is too bad. i just dont understand how people can still be so gullible with these stories in the news all the time.
She was "promised to double her money"
When will these people learn ??
If it was that easy to make money they ( the bad guys) wouldn't need her money.
How do you get to be 64 years old and NOT see this coming.
GREED - both suspects and victims !
"I didn't want any of my friends to know what had happened, or what I had gone through."
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Then why tell the media about this?
C'mon folks ......if it sounds to good to be true........ Ah forget it. A sucker is born everyday. I feel sorry for this woman but..........
 @Rob C Ponzi Schemes are hard for the victim to actually see that something is wrong until it is too late. The schemers will misrepresent investments and real estate. The investments and real estate are often real things, it's what they do with your money once they get it. They don't put it toward the investments and real estate as promised. My advice would be not to ever invest with someone who approaches you. Make sure you are choosing a well established investment firm.
When someone loses this kind of money it's because of greed and even though this lady is in a bad way, she probably got what she deserved. I would like wealth just like everyone else but I certainly would have enough sense to have some kind of idea that it can't be made that easily without some kind of ramifications.
 @ritfam Pretty ignorant statement there ritfam.
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If she has invested it in a legal investment and it had gone south then one could make that argument.
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This was clearly a scam and being that she is not a financial wizard trusted these folks.
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But in either case she didn't deserve to lose all her money.
 @ritfam "she probably got what she deserved."
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No body deserves to be preyed upon and ripped off. That's Wall Street banker and used car salesman logic right there.
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It's like saying she was dumb, pretty, or dressed funny so she deserved to be assaulted.
 @ritfam I think she deserves a break. It is perfectly reasonable to think that investing your $100,000 in the development of property might turn you up a profit after the real estate is developed. She met these guys at a real estate conference and was looking to invest. It seemed legit. Ponzi schemers are good at misrepresenting real tangible real estate as their own. The victim does not know they are being taken advantage of until it is too late.
@kumitekat @ritfam
again, if it sounds too good to be true, it prob is. With the kind of money she invested, she very easily could have found a reputable firm in the area.There are some very good investment firms in Portland that have been in business a long time.It's easy to spot the scams...And she should have known better before hading over that kind of money.
Perfectly reasonable? What knowledge or experience did she possess in Real Esate development??? She relied on a total stranger. Thats not smart. PERIOD !
Future medical bills? I thought Obummer had everyone covered on that? Regardless if you want it or not....
 @Billy Batts Don't believe everything you think.
A fool and their money...
@Tom Lawyer finish the sentence..
"A fool and their money are soon parted"
 @Tom Lawyer It's interesting watching people criticize the victim, not the two perpetrators who broke the law.
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You sound like somebody who sees no problem screwing lesser-intelligent people out of their money.
We need to set up a labor camp where people like this can work and all the money goes towards the repayment of the money they stole. Once they pay back all the money they can be set free. For this guy that would be life in the camps.
@RalphCramden Problem is that would zap any incentive to work if he knows he will never reach that goal....
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YOu have to couple that with....Your choice of not working and trying to pay restitution is a 5x9 cell with no TV, no books, slop like they use to eat on "big brother" (some kind of nutirtious paste that has no taste), and only contact is with others when he has to do his minimum hard labor to offset the cost the taxpayers have to foot to house the scumbag.
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I would throw in a third option because I am hardcore....Failure to do option 2 is be put to death, becuase you life is not worth the money we are paying to house you.
 @Duvie23 I am thinking that we are on to something and could come up with a solution.Â
 @Dienekes4160 They are predators just like pedophiles and politicians.
 @RalphCramden Vlad the Impaler is said to have placed a gold coin in the center of the town square, and nobody took it because they knew it was not theirs.   (Either that, or they knew the consequences of taking it if they were caught.)
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When somebody knowingly and deliberately screws somebody out of their savings, they should be broken. They're predators.
@Duvie23 A diet of "Nutraloaf" should be enough motivation to work hard and get out of their situtation....
Always check credibility before investing. I hope things work out for her later in the future.
Just invest in gold and silver instead...thats much safer.
@portlandborn83
what goes up must come down and we have seen this before with gold & silver.With interest rates at some of their lowest points right now, real estate is not a bad investment, esp if someone has the monies to purchase.Many properties arte being scooped up by those that actually have the monies and they are flipping them or refurbishing for rentals.
You should check out Mr Higgins FB profile. Â It is clear that he is quite high on himself. Â Or was...
 @oregonchick76 My favorite is how his Christian church is his most visited place.
I feel sorry for her because of the pain she is going through.I do think that there is no such thing as easy money on get rich conferences.I get hit up all the time from people wanting to me to be a part of their pyramid schemes and multi level marketing.For me personally,I have found in my life the only way to make money is to actually work for it.
@noneofyourbizzness Just remember what ever you achive you owe the goverment for that, because they built that!!! What a schmuck!
 @Duvie23Â
"Just remember what ever you achive you owe the government"
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That's not what he said, and what he said wasn't in the same context as you, Lars, Rush, Glenn Beck and Fox News are presenting it.
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You're just repeating their daily material. It's their talking point, and you didn't listen to him make the speech himself which means you're only regurgitating Rupert Murdoch's schtick.
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Moreover, how about not turning every single discussion into an anti-President rant which is JUST EXACTLY WHAT GLENN BECK AND LARS LARSON DO EVERY DAY.
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(I don't hesitate to call out InfoWars troofers, I warn people who are about to step in dog crap, and I don't hesitate to call out Conservatard talking-point propaganda when I hear it either.)
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Here's the Obama-translation:Â Henry Ford couldn't have made a fortune off of cars if there hadn't have been roads to drive them on, railroads to deliver the raw material, mines to get it, oil wells, petroleum refineries, service stations and millions of working people making the money it takes to buy Henry Ford's product. Above all, every Ford automobile requires a consumer to drive it.
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Steve Jobs couldn't have made Pixar or the iPad2 without teams of people researching, developing and writing the operating code for the technology. And that doesn't even been to touch manufacturing, or movie distribution for Toy Story.
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You can't make an HONEST fortune without doing it on the backs of other people. He never said the government built whatever you achieve.
 @Dienekes4160 Smartest thing I've read here in a while....thanks!
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So sick of the distortions, more so with the right than the left although they're both guilty.