Investor's Watchdog.com: Stock, finance and investment protection for investors

“And then one day he went searching for some food, and up through ground come a bubblin’ crude.”  Jed Clampett was from Tennessee, and, according to one alleged scam artist, the oil that sent Jed and his family to Beverly Hills was not the only oil in Tennessee. Prosecutors have arrested and charged Ashvin Zaveri with raising almost $35 million by selling investors interests in 24 different oil and gas limited partnerships that supposedly owned deposits in Tennessee and Kentucky.  Prosecutors allege that Zaveri used money invested by later investors to pay supposed profit distributions to earlier investors, in classic Ponzi fashion.Zaveri is from western New York State.  The Democrat and Chronicle.com reports that, if proven, Zaveri’s scheme would among the largest scams in the history of that part of New York.Oil and gas frauds will continue to prosper.  The price of gas is a continuing reminder of our dependence on oil.  Scam artists selling oil and gas interests therefore do not have to convince prospective victims that an operating well is a profitable venture.  If you are considering investing in such a venture, first get a report from an investor protection company.   Thousands of senior citizens are now starting over with nothing because they thought they could recognize a scam on their own.