Crime & Safety
Man Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Investors Of Nearly $1.5 Million
A 65-year-old Greenwich resident pleaded guilty Monday to fraud and money laundering charges, prosecutors said.
GREENWICH, CT — A Greenwich man pleaded guilty on Monday to defrauding investors of nearly $1.5 million as part of an investment fraud scheme, according to a news release from Leonard C. Boyle, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Samuel Klein, 65, controlled several different entities, including Visual Group LLC; O.S. Management, LLC; KF Pecksland LLC; Four Pines Holdings, LLC; and Payton Lane NH, Inc.
In 2018, Boyle said, Klein made false claims to a victim investor, saying that the victim’s funds would be invested in distressed debt, when Klein knew that all of the investment funds would not be used for those purposes.
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Boyle said the victim investor wrote a check in the amount of $200,000 to Visual Group LLC in order to make an investment in distressed debt. Klein had the check moved from New York to Connecticut and deposited into a bank account in the name of Visual Group LLC, Boyle said, adding that Klein subsequently solicited and received approximately $50,000 in additional money from the victim investor.
"The investigation further revealed that, from approximately July 2016 through at least June 2019, Klein defrauded three additional victim investors of a total of more than $1.2 million by making multiple false statements and misrepresentations," Boyle said in a news release. "Klein knew that all of the funds solicited from the victim investors would not be used for his stated purposes, and instead would be utilized by Klein for personal and other expenditures."
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Klein pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of property taken by fraud, and one count of money laundering, Boyle said, noting that each offense carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison. Klein is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on Nov. 22 in New Haven.
Klein has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $1.5 million, Boyle said. Klein is released on a $500,000 bond pending sentencing.
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