Stamford Founder of Investment Firm Sentenced in Fraud Scheme

A Stamford man, who was the founder and managing partner of R2 Capital Group, has been sentenced to six months in prison for his role in a security fraud scheme that defrauded investors and misappropriated investment funds.

Ryan Tomazin also was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $288,000 in forfeiture and restitution to the victims. Tomazin was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty in Manhattan. Tomazin pleaded guilty on July 30 to one count each of securities fraud and commodities fraud.

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Among other things, Tomazin lied to investors in an R2 Capital commodity pool by disseminating, or causing others to disseminate, documents containing false representations regarding how assets in the commodity pool would be managed. Investors were told that their investments were increasing when, in fact, the value was declining.

Tomazin and other principals at R2 Capital caused more than $850,000 of investors’ funds to be withdrawn from bank accounts associated with the commodity pool and directed to bank accounts held in their own names or those of their respective holding companies.