It offered extremely high returns and little risk.

It seemed too good to be true.

It was.

The deal was with IGW Trust, a Honolulu company operated by her sister, Dorianne Ho DeMattos. IGW Trust arranged investments in exotic-sounding financial transactions involving "prime bank" notes, foreign currency trades and other complex arrangements.

Demattos, whose experience includes 10 years performing in her father's show and another eight years in his administrative office, had agreements with Bankers Alliance, a Michigan company, to do the actual investing.

IGW promised a fixed return of 120 percent a year, along with safety provided by "bank endorsements," federally insured accounts, and supplemental insurance where necessary, according to copies of IGW's contracts with Costa and other investors.

A lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission charging Bankers Alliance and its officers with fraud is pending in a federal court in Washington, D.C., and an injunction has shut down the company while the case proceeds.

At least two local investors have filed for bankruptcy since the returns failed to materialize, and all are waiting to see whether they will get any money back.

Documents detailing the IGW transactions were turned over to the SEC in response to a subpoena last year, and were recently obtained by the Star-Bulletin.

State securities regulators have confirmed that they are investigating DeMattos and IGW for securities fraud after receiving complaints from at least one disgruntled investor.

"The state is currently investigating all parties involved in this activity," said securities Commissioner Russell Yamashita, whose staff has been serving subpoenas.

Yamashita said this deal appears similar to "a classic advance fee loan scheme" in which the loans are never delivered.

DeMattos said she is aware of the state investigation, but says, "they haven't found anything wrong."

DeMattos said she remains on good terms with all of those who invested with her, and still believes they will eventually get their money back.

"It is the commission's view that this has been an utter fraud from day one, part of a Ponzi scheme," Meshulam said. "We have shown in court that the money taken in was used to pay people who had put money into a prior scheme, a classic mark of a Ponzi scheme."

Meshulam said DeMattos and IGW Trust are not named in the lawsuit, although DeMattos says she worked closely with two of the defendants when arranging investments.

Meshulam declined to comment on whether criminal charges are expected in the Bankers Alliance case.

Steven Higley, president of Bankers Alliance, is in hiding and believed to be out of the country, Meshulam said. Higley has been cited for contempt of court for failing to appear for certain court proceedings and for not complying with a court order to account for all investor funds.

DeMattos said she became involved in the investment business while working for her father. "He had people coming to him every week asking for money for projects," DeMattos said.

DeMattos said she has not profited from the deals, despite her partnership with Fernandez.

"It's not about greed or money. We really are just trying to help people here, that's our whole motivation," she said.

DeMattos said she did not solicit clients. "I didn't want anybody to get involved, but they heard that I was doing something and they contacted me."

DeMattos continues to express a firm belief that the Bankers Alliance investments are legitimate, and she blames the SEC lawsuit for freezing the company's funds and leaving Hawaii investors without their money.