Claude Roderick "Rick" Koerber, (born Claud Roderick Franklin 6 March 1973, Casper, WY), is a Utah businessman and entrepreneur, under indictment as of October 2009 by the FBI with charges of orchestrating and running a $100 million Ponzi scheme.[1] At arraignment in June 2009, Koerber had pleaded not guilty to all charges.[2]
Koerber was the presenter of the radio show "FreeCapitalist" and the founder of the "FreeCapitalist Project", both of which promoted free market capitalism, along with conferences on capitalism and business techniques. In November 2009, U.S. Federal prosecutors filed 19 additional charges of fraud against Koerber, including one count of mail fraud, six counts of fraud in the offer and sale of securities, one count of sale of unregistered securities, 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and two counts of tax evasion, bringing the total of charges filed to 22.[3]