Monday, February 13, 2017

Investment Adviser Gets 42 Months For Running Fraudulent Commodity Investment Racket; Among 13 Screwed-Over Victims Were Two Homeowners Who Were Talked Into Borrowing Against Their Home Equity & Investing Proceeds With Him

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Central Islip, New York):
  • Daniel Winston LaMarco, a Huntington, New York investment adviser, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release following his August 2016 guilty plea to wire fraud and commodities fraud. As part of the sentence, LaMarco was also ordered to pay $872,600 in restitution to the investors in a commodity pool he ran which invested in the Foreign Exchange Market.
    ***
    Beginning in approximately January 2011, LaMarco began to solicit investors to fund a commodity pool he ran which invested in the Foreign Exchange Market. LaMarco made false claims regarding his investment performance, and touted the safety of his investment strategy.

    Among his victims, LaMarco encouraged two individuals to invest proceeds from a home equity loan with him.

    As part of his fraud scheme, LaMarco sent false monthly statements to investors representing that their investments were growing, inducing new investments from the investors, and discouraging them from withdrawing their investments with him. The monthly statements claimed the investments had more than doubled in value and were worth as much as $1,796,126.22. In truth, LaMarco had lost almost all of the investors’ money, which totaled more than $872,000, in the Foreign Exchange Market.
Source: Long Island Investment Adviser Sentenced To 42 Months In Prison (Defendant Misled Investors About Investment Returns In Foreign Exchange Market Scheme).