Arizona restaurateur and murder suspect accused of stealing $5.6 million

Posted on: December 2, 2024, 7:11 am.

Last updated on: December 2, 2024, 7:11 am.

An Arizona restaurateur currently awaiting trial in the brutal murder of a teenager whose body was set on fire in the Tonto National Forest has been charged with stealing millions of dollars and gambling with the proceeds.

Anthonie Ruinard Jr., 39, was arrested in July 2023 as a suspect in the murder of 18-year-old Parker League. League’s body was found “dismembered, stabbed and burned beyond recognition” on June 11, 2023 in a desert area just outside Apache Junction, Arizona.

Classic Ponzi

Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Ruinard for defrauding at least 54 investors in his shell company, Legacy Investors Group, Inc., of $5.6 million.

Ruinard posed as a successful investor worth over $470 million. He promised victims that his shrewd speculations in venture capital, private equity and real estate would generate an ROI of 5% to 6% per month, the indictment says.

But while some early investors received payments, others lost everything in the style of a classic Ponzi scheme. According to federal prosecutors, Ruinard squandered the money on casino gambling and luxury vehicles, including an armored car worth $344,000.

Bank cards stolen

In the murder case, Ruinard was arrested when he began using the victim’s bank cards after his death. League had been visiting friends in Arizona from his home in Nebraska when he had the misfortune of meeting Ruinard at a nightclub in Phoenix.

Police searched Ruinard’s car and found traces of the victim’s blood and DNA. He was charged with drug possession, weapons possession, theft, murder and concealment of a corpse.

That charge was dismissed after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in March on murder and concealment charges. The latest grand jury indictment charges him with 19 counts of wire fraud and transactional money laundering.

Restaurant fire

Ruinard was the former owner of Pastiche Modern Eatery in Tuscon, a restaurant that offered modern American cuisine and live jazz until employees quit en masse when paychecks began to fluctuate. Shortly thereafter, a fire caused extensive damage to the restaurant and it never reopened.

Ruinard has an extensive criminal history that includes armed robbery, theft, a bomb threat to a school and animal cruelty.