Former NC banker’s luxury goods to be auctioned

    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Jewels, art, cars and more than 150 bottles of fine wine will be auctioned off in North Carolina’s capital city to help recoup nearly $70 million in losses for investors duped in an alleged Ponzi scheme.
    Rockingham-based Iron Horse Auction Co. is conducting the auction Wednesday under a federal court order to sell the assets of 58-year-old William Wise who operated the Caribbean-based Millennium Bank from an office in Raleigh.
    The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Wise used the bank as a front for a Ponzi scheme in which he stole nearly $70 million from 375 investors since July 2004.
    No charges have been filed in the case, but after the SEC sued Wise and others in March, the courts froze all of Wise’s assets.
    Wise’s whereabouts are unknown.
   
    (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)