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A California court has sentenced a man who helped set up an investment fraud scheme, along with his co-conspirators, to steal millions of dollars from elderly and vulnerable people, and sentenced him to four years in prison.
A financial fraud scammer has been discovered targeting a huge number of individuals over the age of 60. (Photo: Freepik, license)According to U.S. authorities, 66-year-old Malibu resident Daniel Thomas Broyles Sr. played a key role in an investment fraud involving two companies: Niyat Industries and Earthwater Limited.
Niyat was incorrectly portrayed to investors as a company that makes electric cars and converts them to run on compressed natural gas.
Online investors were invited to transfer funds to Niyat, but Niyat did not have the facilities or technology to develop it.
Broyles shared the money he received with co-defendants, including Robert Leslie Stencil, 66, who pretended to be Nyato’s CEO.
Mr. Broyles participated in a separate investment fraud with Earthwater Limited.
Mr. Broyles worked with Earthwater CEO Cengiz Yan Kom (63) and others to sell Earthwater shares.
They deceived investors by telling them that the funds raised would be used to grow Earthwater’s business. But Mr. Broyles, Mr. Kom and their partners planned to use most of the investors’ money for themselves rather than helping the company.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that in 2022, financial losses from investment fraud reported by victims age 60 and older increased by more than 300%, more than any other type of fraud. Many of these crimes go unreported due to victim shame, embarrassment, not knowing who to contact, or fear.
U.S. authorities have been tracking Broyles and his accomplices since June 2016. Broyles traveled to Mexico after learning that law enforcement was investigating the company, changed his name and used the pseudonym “Daniel Cruz Torres.”
In March 2022, Mr. Broyles was brought back to the United States from Mexico and charged with, and pled guilty to, charges of mail and wire fraud, money laundering in connection with the Nyato fraud, and Earthwater fraud.
Seven other people were convicted of Niyat fraud before Mr. Broyles. One of them, named Stencil, was sentenced to 12 years and 3 months in prison after a trial that lasted three weeks.
Eleven other people have pleaded guilty to EarthWater fraud. Among them was Com, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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