SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California (KOLO) – Former South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace has been indicted on a single charge of wire fraud.
Wallace was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California on Tuesday.
The federal charge stems from allegations that, from around April 2019 to September 2025, while working as a bookkeeper for Lake Tahoe Presbyterian Church, Wallace embezzled about $390,000 through checks made out to herself and unauthorized electronic transfers.
The investigation into Wallace began in 2025 after she released an open letter admitting to embezzling funds from her employer and attempting to commit suicide.
Wallace now faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The El Dorado County DA’s Office said California’s lenient sentencing laws would likely have permitted very little prison time, or around a year at most, despite the nature of the…
THE BHI TRUST PONZI SCHEME (SOUTH AFRICA)
Date: Ongoing updates through February 2026 Perpetrator: Craig Warriner (Principal), with alleged co-conspirators
Case Description: The BHI Trust scandal remains one of South Africa’s most devastating financial crimes, involving the loss of between R1.9 billion and R3 billion. Craig Warriner, the “genius trader” behind the trust, turned himself in during late 2023, but the legal and recovery battles reached a fever pitch in 2025 and 2026. Warriner operated the trust as a textbook Ponzi scheme, utilizing “Old Boy” networks and high-profile brokers to lure in pensioners and high-net-worth individuals with promises of 20% annual returns.
In early 2025, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) faced heavy criticism for “provisionally withdrawing” charges against alleged co-conspirators Michael Haldane and Sona Pillay. However, civil recovery efforts by joint trustees have continued into 2026, aiming to claw back hundreds of millions in “fictitious profits” from early investors to redistribute to those who lost everything. The case is a masterclass in the failure of fiduciary duty; the FSCA eventually banned several advisors for up to 30 years for peddling the unlicensed scheme despite clear red flags, such as the lack of a website, the absence of regulated financial reports, and a fee structure that was triple the industry average.
Link to Original: Moneyweb – BHI Trust Scandal Deep Dive