Man Arrested, Indicted on 23 Counts Related to Securities Fraud

By Katie Hauser

Published on September 12, 2006

Blakemore’s arrest is connected to a Denver-Boulder area stock fraud case. Prosecutors claim he defrauded more than 38 investors of money in excess of $3.2 million.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph claim Blakemore sold fraudulent investments through his company, Great Plains Financial LLC. Allegedly, investors were told that they were buying into short-term investments that would yield a remarkably high return rate. Blakemore apparently also told investors that he had a top-secret trading relationship with a substantially profitable major bank ranked in the top 25 worldwide. Prosecutors argue that no such relationship ever existed.

Prosecutors further claim that Blakemore worked closely with Michael Conley of Shawnee, Kansas, and his company Konza Financial. Blakemore allegedly sent the money entrusted to him by investors to Conley for a substantial commission, or kept the money for his personal gain. Conley is currently serving 7 years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud related to Konza Financial in March 2006.

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