UTAH (ABC4) – A Utah man has pleaded guilty to a $200 million ponzi scheme, defrauding around 500 victims.

Court documents identify the man as 62-year-old Gaylen Rust. Rust, along with his ex-wife 62-year-old Denise Rust and his son, 39-year-old Joshua Rust have been implicated in a silver trading scheme that bamboozled victims out of approximately $200 million.

Gaylen has pleaded guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. His ex-wife, Denise, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is currently serving time on that charge.

His son, Joshua has a trial scheduled for April 2022 for charges of money laundering and attempted conspiracy to commit fraud.

Gaylen is the listed owner of three companies including Rust Rare Coin, Inc. (“RRC”), R Legacy Entertainment LLC, and R Legacy Racing. Denise is listed as the secretary of RRC and Joshua is listed as the manager of RRC.

Authorities say Rust is guilty of defrauding victims by encouraging them to invest in a non-existent silver trading program. The schemes in question took place starting around 1996 and continued through November 15, 2018.

Rust is being charged with defrauding investors by providing “false statements, misrepresentations, deception, fraudulent conduct, and omissions of material facts.” He offered and sold investments in a silver trading program to around 500…