Antiques Store Owner Pleads in Pyramid Scheme

RALEIGH, N.C. — The owner of an antiques store in Raleigh's Five Points district plead guilty Wednesday in an alleged scheme that generated at least $3 million, investigators said.

Between February 2006 and June 2007, Patricia Jacoby, the owner of POSH! Fine Arts and Antiques, lied to investors, authorities said. Court documents allege she told investors she purchased estate lots of antiques and promised a 22 percent return on the investment within 30 days.

Jacoby has been found guilty in similar schemes twice before. In 2006, she pleaded guilty in Wake County, and investigators say she used money from the latest scheme to pay restitution in that case.