Cayman's Man gets 10-year prison term for cheating elderly
NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - A man who defrauded some 1,800 investors, many of whom were elderly or
retired, out of more than $157 million has been sentenced to 10 years and seven months in prison, federal
prosecutors said on Thursday.
Two of the defendant's victims, who lost their life savings in the scheme, committed suicide after learning of their
losses.
The defendant Michael Gause, 46, who has lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Cumming, Georgia, and
Georgetowne on Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, also was ordered to pay $157.9 million in restitution to his
victims. He previously had pleaded guilty to conspiracy, securities fraud, and international money- laundering
charges for leading an international Ponzi scheme.
In order to make sure money would be available to pay victims, the government previously seized Gause's assets,
including multimillion-dollar homes, two private jets and bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.
In imposing sentence late Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, U.S. District Judge John Koeltl said Gause's
fraud had "severe effects on victims, financially, and even emotionally and physically."
The scheme involved the sale of high-interest debt securities, the proceeds of which were supposedly for use of
"Cash 4 Titles," an Atlanta-based finance company that made high-interest consumer loans secured by car titles
pledged as collateral by borrowers.
Gause admitted during his guilty plea hearing that he told investors that the proceeds from the sale of these
securities would be provided to Cash 4 Titles and then lent at high-interest rates to consumers.
In truth, however, virtually all of the proceeds were used for the improper and undisclosed purposes of paying
principal and interest due to earlier investors in the scheme, paying business expenses necessary to promote the
scheme, and paying commissions and personal expenses to Gause and others.
05/02/02 17:52 ET
(I double & triple dare you to set one ugly clawed toe in the Great US of A)
Pay the $10,000 to the United Way! ">>> Huh?... What stock and what Law?" What a POS Crim living in denial you are. |
