One-time owner of Portland Nitro ultimate frisbee team also faces state charges in Medford drive-by shootings
A former Jacksonville contractor and one-time owner of the Portland Nitro ultimate frisbee team stood for sentencing in U.S. District Court in Medford on Friday, nearly a year and a half after his arrest on tax evasion, employment tax crimes, bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Joel Matthew Caswell, 32, was sentenced to 42 months, or three and a half years, in federal prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $1,198,799.83 in restitution to the IRS, according to an Oregon Department of Justice news release.
Caswell, who appeared before Judge Michael J. McShane on Friday, appeared in June at the Medford federal courthouse for a plea hearing, during which the Rogue Valley Times reported Caswell agreed to plead guilty to one-third of…
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