Utsick Back In Florida

He was returned to Miami, Fla., Dec. 6 and will face a federal magistrate later today, according to the Miami Herald. He was charged with nine counts of mail fraud and designated a fugitive in 2010.

Utsick, who operated Worldwide Entertainment and was Pollstar’s fourth top-grossing global promoter in 2004, left the U.S. in 2007, a year after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit accusing him of fraud.

An indictment filed in Miami accuses Utsick of using “false pretenses” to solicit millions of dollars from investors for his own benefit between 1996 and 2006. After reaching a settlement agreement with the SEC, his companies were put in receivership and liquidated, with the proceeds used to repay some 300 investors.

But in 2007, Utsick reportedly sold a Porsche and Mercedes-Benz and pocketed the money, which was a violation of a court order. Within days he departed for Brazil.

In 2009, U.S. District Judge Paul Huck imposed a final settlement ordering Utsick to pay $4.1 million in fines and interest. Utsick appealed the ruling, but refused several court orders to return to the States to face the court. Utsick’s legal troubles began when investigators determined that Utsick and partners Donna and Robert Yeager sold unregistered securities to finance concerts by Santana, The Pretenders, Aerosmith and others.

Then, it was learned that Utsick was losing money on most of his efforts, despite claiming to have earned millions during that time. Receiver Michael Goldberg of Miami accused Utsick of orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme, tapping into investor funds to support a lavish lifestyle including a South Beach, Fla., condominium, yacht, luxury cars, artwork and nearly $500,000 in credit card bills.