FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE:  October 9, 2007
CONTACT:  Bob Walsh, (702) 486-2436

*NOTE TO EDITORS/PRODUCERS: A photo of Joseph Robert Kelso is available at the website www.jrkelso.com. Click on the “consulting” link on the left hand side of the page.

Secretary of State Undercover Sting Nets Head of Platinum Mine Scam
Multi-Agency Effort Arrests Man with History of Fraud Arrest

Reno, NV – Undercover agents from the Nevada Secretary of State’s Securities Division, working in conjunction with agents of the United States Secret Service and Washoe County Sheriff’s Deputies today arrested a man with a history of fraud convictions on new charges of securities fraud and theft.  Acting as a potential investor in the fraudulent scheme, an undercover agent met with Joseph Robert Kelso in an Incline Village hotel room that was under video and audio surveillance.

Agents arrested Kelso when he solicited the undercover agent to invest $1000,000.00 in his platinum mining venture.  Kelso also told the undercover agent that he had given the Piute Indian tribe $1,000,000.00 to build a hospital on their land and in return had received a memorandum of understanding which allowed him to mine on Piute land.  Secretary of State’s investigators had been watching Kelso for several weeks, after receiving information that he was raising capital for a platinum mine project near Pyramid Lake, Nevada under the business name of Mine Central Holdings Trust .  Kelso represented that he was a billionaire, a former member of the CIA, and the DEA, and that he had conducted scientific studies of the ore at the mine’s location. 

Agents say there is no evidence of platinum mining potential in the Pyramid Lake area and that the Bureau of Land Management has declared four of Kelso’s mining claims null and void.  Kelso will also be charged with misrepresenting his background to potential investors, a background that includes prior fraud and securities-related convictions.   In 2003 Kelso pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with an “advance fee” scheme in which he promised victims he would fund large business loans for an advance fee.  In 2004, while on federal probation, Kelso was caught passing himself off as a physicist and applied scientist offering financial interests in a project to extract precious minerals from the sea.  Kelso told at least one of the victims that the minerals could cure the victim’s wife’s cancer.

“There are two significant aspects to this case that are encouraging,” said Secretary of State Ross Miller.  “First, is that we received a tip from a citizen who recognized that something wasn’t right with this investment offer.  Second, as a result of that tip, we were able to bring this scheme to an end quickly before it reached more victims.  Successful law enforcement starts at the individual citizen level.  That’s why we are constantly encouraging Nevadans to report questionable activities relating to securities and investments.”

The Secretary of State Securities Division requests that any citizen who may have information concerning investments made with Joseph Robert Kelso or Mine Central Holding Trust, or who may have been victimized in this alleged scheme, please contact the Division at 775-688-1858.