Mobile Billboards of America fraud convictions

Man sentenced to 14 years for $70 million investment scheme
From Staff Reports
TUESDAY, MAY. 6, 2008

UPDATED 6:02 PM

A former Kernersville man will spend 14 years in federal prison for his role in a $70 million retirement investment scheme.

Scott B. Hollenbeck, 53, of Orlando, Fla., was sentenced Tuesday, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney George E. B. Holding.

A federal jury found Hollenbeck guilty of conspiracy and mail fraud in February.

During the four-week trial, prosecutors said the scheme involved convincing victims to invest in Mobile Billboards. But the company was a fraudulent Ponzi scheme, where money from new investors was used to make payments to previous investors, and to enrich the defendants, court records show.

Hollenbeck was an insurance agent and leading salesman of Mobile Billboards, according to court records. He was responsible for about $10 million in sales, mostly in and around Kernersville, records show.

Also sentenced:

• Michael A. Lomas, age unknown, of Pasadena, Calif., to 20 years after pleading guilty to mail fraud;
• Laurinda Holohan, 63, of Concord, Ohio, to six years and four months, after a jury found her guilty of conspiracy and mail fraud;
• Susan Knight, 48, of Eastlake, Ohio, to two years and six months, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud;
• Arthur J. Anderson Jr., 49, of Raleigh, to five years, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Another man accused of being a part of the scheme, Michael L. Young, 61, is still being sought, authorities said.