Oregon: Gambling Addict to Prison for $1.6 Million Theft

Ponzi scheme fed Portland man's gambling addiction, but guilt got the better of him
By Bryan Denson, The Oregonian

Jonathan D. Kendig had a gambling problem.

From the video games of the Oregon Lottery to the card tables of Spirit Mountain Casino, he lost big bucks. So much, the government would later allege, he launched a one-man Ponzi scheme to cover his losses and keep the money flowing.

"It's like any addiction," said Kendig's lawyer, Robert C. "Bob" Weaver Jr. "It's like crack. ... It takes over your life."

From 2004 to 2009, the Southeast Portland mortgage man held himself out as a senior loan officer who was soliciting short-term loans for people who owned real estate. He promised big returns and paid back a little as "interest."

But the loans were a fiction. Kendig reached into the pockets of his friend Howard Zidell and ultimately drained the retirement accounts of three elderly people.

Then, wracked with guilt, he confessed everything.

Kendig lost his job, surrendered his licenses to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and landed today in Portland's federal courthouse to face the music.

U.S. District Judge Garr M. King sentenced Kendig to two years in prison and three years of post-prison supervision. King also ordered him to back back the money he stole: $1,611,598.

-- Bryan Denson