Victims of James Lull's multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme will be on hand to testify in federal court this morning when the former Kaua'i mortgage broker is sentenced for fraud.

Lull pleaded guilty in September to defrauding as many as 50 victims out of much as $30 million.

Many of Lull's victims were friends and business associates whom he met when he worked as Kaua'i branch manager of U.S. Mortgage Financial Mortgage Corp. from 1994 to 2006.

Some reported losing their life savings when they invested in purported real estate deals that Lull promised would return high rates of returns in short periods of time.

Lull filed bankruptcy papers in 2006, listing $31 million in debt to dozens of creditors.

That bankruptcy case is still under way and when Lull pleaded guilty in the criminal case he was ordered to help the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings in efforts to locate any assets available to repay creditors.

That trustee, Ronald Kotoshirodo, is expected to speak at the sentencing hearing about the extent of Lull's cooperation.

One of Lull's creditors, Jon Anderton, recently filed a request for a transcript of a lie detector test Lull underwent earlier this year in the bankruptcy proceedings.

"Mr. Anderton has been invited by the United State Department of Justice to participate in Mr. Lull's sentencing on April 13, 2009 and requests a copy of the transcript of the polygraph examination to prepare his testimony," his lawyer said in a motion filed earlier this month.

According to court papers filed by Kotoshirodo, Anderton entrusted $6 million to Lull between 2002 and 2004.

"Anderton made a series of advances to Lull based on Lull's fraudulent representations to Anderton that the amounts would be re-invested by Lull in bridge or other short term loans," Kotoshirodo said.

Lull promised to pay Anderton "interest at one per cent a month on all amounts advanced plus all or a share of the 'points' which Lull earned from his borrowers," according to Kotoshirodo's fillings.

Lull did not re-invest Anderton's money in short term loans "but fraudulently diverted" the money for his own "personal purposes," Kotoshirodo said.

Following the standard pattern of a Ponzi scheme operator, Lull did make some payments to early investors by recruiting new investors into his scheme, Kotoshirodo said.

Anderton received nearly $2.3 million from Lull in 2005 after Anderton began demanding repayment, according to court files.

Because the payments were made within two years of Lull's bankruptcy filling, and because Anderton, an accountant, was a "reasonably prudent investor" who knew or should have known that "Lull was engaged in a Ponzi scheme," Kotoshirodo is now demanding that Anderton return the $2.3 million received from Lull in 2005.

Lull faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway, according to the prosecutor in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Connors.

Connors said last week that some of Lull's victims have indicated an interest in speaking at his sentencing hearing.

A "victim witness coordinator" in the U.S. attorney's office here has been notifying Lull's victims of the time and place of the sentencing hearing.

The notification process is part of a program operated by the Office for Victims of Crime in the U.S. Justice Department.