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Posted: Tuesday, 30 June 2009 11:44AM
Webio David Hernandez makes court appearance
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CHICAGO (STNG) -- Businessman and alleged Ponzi schemer David Hernandez appeared in a Downstate court Monday morning following his recent arrest on fraud charges.
Hernandez, 48, of Downers Grove, who co-founded the now-defunct ChicagoSportsWebio.com, with popular broadcaster Mike North, showed up in court after he was released from the hospital following an alleged drug-induced suicide attempt.
Hernandez was reported missing June 15, just before federal charges were announced. He's also accused in a civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of bilking more than 100 investors out of nearly $12 million.
Police in Normal captured Hernandez after being called to check on a hotel guest, police said. The FBI took him into custody as he awoke from his hospital bed last week. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Hernandez will be transferred to Chicago's northern district where a future court date will be set, a U.S. attorney's spokeswoman said.
Webio, an Internet-based sports-talk radio station, employed other radio veterans, including program director Jesse Rogers, Jonathan Hood and Chet Coppock. One of his companies, NextStep Medical Staffing, also was the main sponsor of North's "Monsters in the Morning" show on Comcast SportsNet.
Hernandez is accused of running a Ponzi scheme that illicitly siphoned millions from investors to pay himself, his family and start-up costs for the sports-talk Web site.
"We are pleased he has been apprehended, and we hope he is appropriately punished," North said last week in a statement.
"Our hearts are concerned about the number of people he hurt, including his own family."
His wife, Gina Hernandez, who was named in a civil lawsuit filed by the SEC, is cooperating with federal authorities and has been told by the FBI and SEC that she is not a "target or implicated" in her husband's alleged Ponzi scheme, her lawyer said.
"She is cooperating and continues to cooperate," Martin said. "She was totally shocked by the arrest warrant and the size and magnitude of the case."
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