{"id":12530,"date":"2015-06-03T17:25:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T00:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12530"},"modified":"2015-06-03T17:25:07","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T00:25:07","slug":"man-conned-32-investors-out-of-millions-facing-up-to-20-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=12530","title":{"rendered":"Man Conned 32 Investors Out of Millions, Facing Up to 20 Years in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN DIEGO<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A 68-year-old man, who raised $8.3 million by lying to 32 investors, plead guilty to wire fraud in federal court and is facing up to 20 years behind bars when he is sentenced in August, officials said.<\/p>\n

\"Ponzi<\/a>Stock broker, Sunil Sharma<\/strong> of Carlsbad, plead guilty Tuesday, admitting that he stole more than $6 million from local investors by falsely claiming their funds were safe through conservative investments.<\/p>\n

However, officials said he pursued a risky day trading strategy that turned into a massive Ponzi scheme, according to officials.<\/p>\n

To lure new investors,\u00a0officials said Sharma paid $2.12 million in \u201creturns\u201d to old clients from funds generally derived from the contribution of later investors, officials said.<\/p>\n

Sharma also admitted that he covered up the massive losses by continuing to falsely tell investors that their investments were doing well. \u00a0He would send his investors monthly or quarterly statements that falsely reflected that their investments were generating the promised returns.<\/p>\n

Sharma spent $2.5 million of investor money for his own personal use, including \u00a0about $700,000 towards the down payment of a $2 million home in San Diego. He spent about $12,000 for a cruise in the Mediterranean\u00a0and\u00a0for leasing a Mercedes SL and a BMW.<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0warned all investors to ensure that individuals soliciting money have appropriate licenses and audited financial statements.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll investors\u2014especially when they are dealing with their retirement savings\u2014must exercise due caution before turning over money even to long-time friends or else what appears to be a safe harbor might turn into a ship wreck,\u201d said Duffy<\/p>\n

These are the facts surrounding this case:<\/strong><\/p>\n