In October 1871, Schenck was paid for the use of his name in the sale of stock in England for the Emma Silver Mine, near Alta, Utah, and became a director of the mining company. Seeing the American minister's name connected with it, British people invested heavily. The Emma mine paid large dividends for a brief time while company insiders sold their shares, but then share prices crashed when it was learned that the mine was exhausted. Schenck was blamed and was ordered home for investigation. He resigned his post in the spring of 1875. A congressional investigation in March 1876 concluded that he was not guilty of wrongdoing but that he had shown very bad judgment in lending his name and office to promote any such scheme.[http://www.miningswindles.com/html/emma_mine.html]