Pocono News Section

I-Team Update: Feds Locate Owner of J.P.L. Financial

I-Team Update: Feds Locate Owner of J.P.L. Financial - Monday, April 6, 2009 at 5:41PM EST

KINGSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY- And now an update on an I-Team investigation. It involves questions surrounding a Luzerne County investment firm.
We broke the story about J. P.L. Financial in Kingston last week. Authorities had been looking for its owner, James Lake. He contacted federal authorities last Friday.

The I-Team has learned Lake has hired a lawyer and this investigation is now in the hands of another federal agency.

Lake is owner of J. P.L. Financial in Kingston. Clients called the I-Team and the Secret Service, which handles these investigations, because they could not contact Lake. One man said he was trying to find some $11,000.

Sources close to the case told the I-Team’s Andy Mehalshick that the U. S. Postal Service has taken over the investigation and that the case is also on the radar of the U. S Attorney’s office. As for Lake, he has hired a lawyer.

We spoke to a father for Luzerne County who says he wants to find out what happened to his $11,000 that was to be invested to take care of his sick daughter, who has a rare form of M. S. "I found out my daughter was sick so I went to James because I didn’t have a plan, I didn't have savings. I knew she was going to need life long care," he said.

And our attempts to contact Lake to get his side of the story have been unsuccessful.