The criminal trial of Natalie Cochran, who is accused of operating a Ponzi scheme with her late husband, was postponed today in the Southern District of West Virginia at least partially due to COVID-19. Cochran was indicted on multiple counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, unlawful monetary transactions, bankruptcy fraud, and making a false oath in bankruptcy. The trial was scheduled to begin later this month. A new trial date is set for July 21.
According to the indictment, Cochran presented two businesses she operated with her late husband Michael Cochran, Tactical Solutions Group (TSG) and Technology Management Systems (TMS), as legitimate government contractors, although neither ever had a government contract, and fraudulently induced numerous victims to invest in the companies and in phony government contracts allegedly awarded to them. Cochran allegedly obtained cash advances from several finance companies to pay off early investors and lull them into believing them the scheme was legitimate. To conceal the scheme, Cochran filed a bankruptcy petition that failed to list the investors as creditors and omitted her interest in TSG and TMS. She is also charged with providing false testimony on several occasions at the 341(a) meeting of creditors.
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