Huntington Man Pleads Guilty to Foreign Currency Fraud Scheme

A Huntington man pleaded guilty Friday to a foreign currency fraud scheme that caused 13 investors to lose more than $862,000 for his own personal gain, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.

Daniel Winston LaMarco, 51, faced wire fraud and commodities fraud charges. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

“LaMarco misled investors regarding his investment performance on a monthly basis for years and encouraged them to invest their money in risky and volatile markets,” United States Attorney Robert L. Capers said in a press release.

Around January 2011, LaMarco began to solicit investors to fund a commodity pool he ran which invested in the Foreign Exchange Market, the USAO said.

LaMarco allegedly made false claims regarding investment performance and touted how safe his investment strategy was.

According to USAO, LaMarco encouraged two investors to invest proceeds from a home equity loan with him. LaMarco allegedly sent false monthly statements telling the investors that their investments were growing, discouraged them from withdrawing their investments and sent false monthly statement claiming the investments had doubled in value and were worth as much as $1,796,126.22. However, LaMarco had lost almost all of the investors’ money, which totaled more than $862,000 in the Foreign Exchange Market, the USAO says.

“The message of this prosecution is clear – if you defraud investors for personal gain you will be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Capers said.