Florida Man Pleads Guilty to $30 Million Mail Fraud Scheme

On Behalf of | Aug 9, 2011 | White Collar Crime

A Florida man recently pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with a $30 million white collar crime.

The 47-year-old Gainesville, Florida man operated an investment company named Botfly LLC. He promised investors of returns up to 10 percent a month through investments in the foreign currency market. Based on these promises, he raised almost $30 million from his investors. However, only a small portion of the funds, $2.6 million was actually used for trading on the foreign currency market.

Of the remaining funds, over half, $14 million, was used to make payments to other investors so that it appeared that they were achieving their 10 percent return. The rest of the money went straight into the 47 year old’s pockets. According to documents filed with the criminal charges, almost $13 million was spend on supporting a high-end lifestyle, including purchasing expensive real estate, traveling in private jets, and buying luxury autos, jewelry and computer equipment.

The fraud was uncovered by a joint task force, consisting of representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division Fraud Section, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

This latest guilty plea is yet another in the stop fraud campaign led by the federal Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was originally created by President Obama to proactively investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

Source: Press Release, “USDOJ: Florida Man Pleads Guilty to $30 Million Investment Fraud Scheme,” Department of Justice, 30 July 2011.

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