Hearing Set In Seniors Scam

A preliminary hearing is scheduled Wednesday for Joseph O. Mader of Lewiston, accused of swindling $1.3 million from elderly investors.

Mader appeared in court on Monday to face 18 counts of racketeering, selling unregistered securities and forgery.

Through Mader Agency, Mader Properties R and M Paper or Clearwater Commodities, Mader “engaged in a pattern of racketeering,” according to a complaint filed by the attorney general’s office.

The complaint alleges that Mader talked some clients into giving him thousands of dollars in unsecured personal loans. In other instances he is charged with advising clients to invest in high-risk securities he represented as solid investments.

He also is charged with selling unregistered securities and forging the signatures of clients on investment agreements.

A news release from the office of Attorney General Alan Lance said Mader’s clients involved 22 elderly people in Nez Perce, Latah and Clearwater counties.