Columbia Falls Woman Sentenced to Prison for Running Ponzi Scheme

A Columbia Falls woman who stole $1.5 million from 28 different investors in an elaborate Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to Montana Women’s Prison.

Flathead County District Court Judge Amy Eddy sentenced Catherine Ann Finberg to 40 years in prison with 30 years suspended. The court decision occurred two months after Finberg entered a no-contest plea to theft by embezzlement and pleaded guilty to operating a pyramid scheme and two counts of fraudulent securities practices, all felonies.

Finberg will also have to pay more than $767,000 in restitution to the victims in the case. Part of the restitution was reduced with the sale of Finberg’s home and the liquidation of some assets.

During the March 23 sentencing hearing, Finberg thanked her friends and family for their support in the year since she was initially accused of defrauding 28 people between 2008 and 2016. She said it was never her intention to lose the money that had been given to her for her to invest.

“I accept full responsibility for my actions and have been tormented by what I did every hour of every day,” she said, briefly breaking down into tears. “I never intended to lose your money.”

Last year, Finberg’s investment accounts were frozen at the request of attorneys with the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance who were investigating her. Although Finberg had not yet been charged, the attorneys believed they had enough evidence of illegal activity and wanted to stop her before she caused additional harm.

A Ponzi scheme involves a person paying investors using money obtained from later investors, rather than from any profits earned.

According to court documents, between 2008 and 2016, Finberg, who has served as an assistant coach for the Columbia Falls High School girls basketball team, took at least $1.5 million from 28 people, who expected her to invest the funds on their behalf. According to charging documents, at least four of those investors were “vulnerable persons” because of their advanced age and one was mentally disabled. According to testimony in court, Finberg took anywhere from a few thousand dollars from some investors to more than $100,000 from others.

In September 2016, Finberg was charged with five felonies stemming from the Ponzi scheme. She pleaded not guilty to all of the charges last fall. Earlier this year, Finberg’s attorneys reached a plea agreement with state prosecutors where she would plead no contest to theft by embezzlement and guilty to operating a pyramid scheme and two counts of fraudulent securities practices. Prosecutors agreed to drop two charges of failure to register as a securities broker.