Ron Wilson (politician)

Ron Wilson is a convicted thief, a former Anderson County, South Carolina politician, and a former Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).

On November 13, 2012, Wilson was sentenced to almost 20 years in prison for operating a "Ponzi Scheme" from 2001 to 2012 that swindled investors of almost $60,000,000. In the scheme, he convinced retirees, friends, business associates, fellow members of the SCV and others to take cash from retirement accounts and insurance policies, as well as more liquid cash, and invest in his silver investment business, Atlantic Bullion & Coin, Inc. He promised he would monitor "key indicators", invest accordingly, and rake in large profits. He never bought silver for most of his clients, telling them that the silver was in a Delaware depository. (The depository had never heard of Wilson.) As with all Ponzi schemes, new invested money was instead used to pay earlier investors and keep the scheme alive. Besides time served, his sentence requires restitution of $57,401,009.^[1]

In 2014 he, his estranged wife, and his brother pleaded guilty to hiding, and conspiring to hide, some of the assets he had stolen. Wilson received an additional six months on his prison sentence.^[2][3]

A web site has been set up to assist victims of the Wilson scheme in making claims, as well as providing news and information.^[4]

He served as national Commander-in-Chief of the SCV from 2002 to 2004. During that time, he disparaged and limited the participation of those he and others termed "moderates", and worked to more closely ally the group with secessionist advocates and/or white supremacists, including Kirk D. Lyons, Boyd Cathey, and others, and also with groups like the avowedly secessionist League of the South.^[5][6] Though a seminal figure in the modern history of the SCV, his name does not appear among the list of past Commanders-in-Chief on the group's website.

In his political career, he served on the Anderson County Council and on the South Carolina Board of Education. He ran unsuccessfully in 2004 for a seat in the South Carolina Senate representing Anderson County, South Carolina. In 2007 Wilson was elected as the Republican representative for Anderson County Council District 6.^[7]

Wilson formerly hosted a thirty-minute program titled The Hour of Courage on shortwave radio.

References

External links

• , The Tarnishing of Ron Wilson May 19, 2012
• Putting the "Con" in Confederate Heritage