Reed Eliot Slatkin (January 22, 1949 – June 23, 2015) was an initial investor and co-founder of EarthLink and the perpetrator of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in the United States since that conducted by Charles Ponzi himself.

Slatkin had been an ordained Scientology minister since 1975. Around 1984, he changed from being a full-time minister to becoming a self-employed investor, and many of his investment clients and victims were also Scientologists.

Ponzi scheme

From 1986 to 2001, Slatkin raised approximately $593 million from about 800 wealthy investors. Using the funds from later investors, he paid one group of early investors $279M on their original $128M investment, citing investment success without actually making most of the claimed investments. He also distributed millions in fees to associates as "consultants". An investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shut down the scheme in 2001. In May 2001, the SEC shut down Slatkin's scheme by filing an enforcement action and obtaining a temporary restraining order freezing his remaining assets. On the same day as the SEC action, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants relating to Slatkin.

The SEC brought the civil case in SEC v. Slatkin, Civil Action No. 01-04823 (C.D. Cal.). The Central District of California brought the criminal case in U.S. v. Reed E. Slatkin, CR 02-313 (C.D. Cal.).

He funneled millions of dollars to the Church of Scientology and related entities, and many of his victims were Scientologists. Victims of his scheme include actors Joe Pantoliano, Anne Archer, Giovanni Ribisi, producers Art Linson and Armyan Bernstein, film composer Mark Isham, and commentator Greta Van Susteren.

Guilty plea and post-conviction

Slatkin pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice and on September 2, 2003, he was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.

His Federal Bureau of Prisons registration number was 24057-112 and he was initially incarcerated at the low-security Taft Community Correctional Institution in Taft, California. By 2010, he had been transferred to the low-security Lompoc Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California.

Many of his victims were also Scientologists. In his fraud case, his lawyers blamed his behavior on Scientology; but Scientology's lawyers from Latham & Watkins characterized Slatkin's explanations as "shameful" and having "sold the psychiatrists a bill of goods".

In July 2013, he was released from a halfway house in Long Beach, California.

On June 23, 2015, journalist Tony Ortega reported on his website that Slatkin had died from a heart attack. Ortega said that he had confirmation of Slatkin's death from Slatkin's ex-wife.

In popular culture

In February 2008, the television show American Greed featured the Slatkin case, titled "Stealing $$$ from Scientologists".