Ponchatoula man arrested in alleged Ponzi scheme

The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office has charged William J. Chaucer Jr., of Ponchatoula with operating an alleged $11 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 200 investors. Chaucer was arrested today on 20 counts each of felony theft, being an unregistered dealer in the sale of securities, sales of unregistered securities and making material misrepresentations in the sale of a security, and booked in the Tangipahoa Parish Prison. Chaucer was operating a payday loan company called Chaucer Financial Services in Hammond. He was also the principal of Chaucer Holding Company, American Credit of Hammond, American Credit of Covington and City Credit of Ponchatoula. The attorney general’s office says Chaucer used private investments from investors, including several who live in Baton Rouge, to pay for his “extravagant lifestyle.” That included paying for more than $400,000 in New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe membership fees, and more than $58,000 for cosmetic surgery, dental work, jewelry and beauty pageant fees for his wife, Cheryl. Cheryl Chaucer holds the Miss Senior America Louisiana crown and competed in the Miss Senior America Competition 2009 in Atlantic City, N.J. Chaucer closed operations for all of his financial companies in September, according to the attorney general’s office. Since then, investors have not been able to get back any of their original investments, which ranged from $10,000 to $417,000. —Olivia Watkins