Alleged victims react to businesswoman’s arrest for investment fraud scheme [Video]

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A California businesswoman accused by investors of running a Ponzi scheme now faces criminal charges.

ABC 10News first reported about Maria Dulce Pino Dickerson nearly a year ago, as many investors claimed she used her Filipino culture to befriend them.

Geraldine Bartleson said she was “very happy” to hear about the charges against Dickerson but also said, “It’s surreal.”

In 2023, Bartleson said she invested about $80,000 with Dickerson’s business, Creative Legal Fundings.

“At the beginning, I was blinded,” she told ABC 10News last year.

Her attorney explained how the business worked.

“Supposedly, these accident attorneys would need money to fund their own lawsuits and would pay a rate of return back to her company,” explained Bartleson’s attorney, Audie De Castro, in 2023. “She would in turn pay 10% per month to each plaintiff.”

Bartleson estimates she only received about a quarter of her investment back.