TLDR A 59-year-old Goldens Bridge, New York, man is charged with wire fraud. Prosecutors say he claimed his firm managed over $750 million in assets. He allegedly admitted on a phone call that no investments were ever made. Friends, family and other victims lost more than $5 million. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
A New York man who said his real estate firm managed more than $750 million in assets never made a single investment, federal prosecutors allege. The 59-year-old from Goldens Bridge, identified as A.L., is accused of taking over $5 million from investors.
Prosecutors say he spent much of that money on gambling and personal expenses. He now faces a wire fraud charge.
The charges were announced by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Goldens Bridge is a small community in northern Westchester County. The office has not said how much A.L. wagered or which gambling operator he used.
A Business That Existed Only on Paper
According to prosecutors, A.L. presented himself as a retail property investor. He told victims he would put their money into real estate and promised them large returns.
Investigators say the business was only a front. The money was never placed into any property deals, and no properties were bought with investor cash.
To keep the scheme going, A.L. allegedly used deposits from new investors to pay returns to earlier ones. Early investors received payments that looked like real profits. That is the basic structure of a Ponzi scheme.
He also created fake documents to back up his story, prosecutors say. The papers described investment properties and the returns investors could expect. Prosecutors described the scheme as highly sophisticated.
Many of his first victims were people close to him. Prosecutors