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Steffan Burris and Jennifer indicted for financial investment fraud

Posted at 1:00 PM, Aug 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-15 18:11:16-04

A Peoria couple reportedly posed as multi-millionaires to swindle thousands of dollars from investors.

Court records show that in the last five years, a Peoria couple received over $650,000 from victims by pretending to be successful investors who inherited $10 to $800 million. 

Police report that 42-year-old Steffan Craig Burris would allegedly show forged bank records and purchase contracts for multi-million-dollar homes to victims so they would invest with him in business. 

In some instances, police say Burris would take money from investors looking to buy rental properties. In others, he would borrow money with the promise to repay them after his inheritance came in.

Victims invested anywhere from $25,000 to $450,000 since 2011.

In one instance, his 39-year-old wife, Jennifer Burris, was present when he reportedly made a claim to an investment broker saying he had an $800 million inheritance. She allegedly signed a "trust questionnaire and an account application." 

The agent loaned them $35,000 based on the false information.

Police say they also found records that Steffan Burris had at least $1.2 million in gambling activity over the past two years at various Arizona casinos. 

The couple has been charged with fraudulent schemes and five counts of theft.