{"id":54835,"date":"2023-11-27T18:34:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T02:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835"},"modified":"2023-11-27T18:34:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T02:34:26","slug":"calif-man-sentenced-to-more-than-seven-years-in-prison-for-7-million-ponzi-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835","title":{"rendered":"Calif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SANTA ANA, California<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison for scheming with his brother to fraudulently obtain more than $7 million from at least 40 investors, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The victims were fellow members of the Valley\u2019s Orthodox Jewish Israeli community\u2014through an investment company, they ran out of their parents\u2019 house.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sassi Mizrahi, 58, of Sherman Oaks, was sentenced by United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who also ordered him to pay $4.4 million in restitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

“For years\u2026Sassi Mizrahi and his brother, co-defendant Motty Mizrahi\u2026 operated a Ponzi scheme that targeted victims they knew had reason to trust them: fellow members of the close-knit, Orthodox Jewish Israeli community of the San Fernando Valley,\u201d prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. \u201cExploiting the goodwill engendered by such affinity, defendants scammed millions of dollars from their victims with false promises of risk-free investments and guaranteed returns.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"After a six-day trial, a jury on Feb. 14 found Mizrahi guilty of five counts of wire fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n

His brother, Motty Mizrahi, 51, of Encino, pleaded guilty on January 6 to six counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. <\/span><\/p>\n

Motty Mizrahi is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18.<\/span><\/p>\n

Motty Mizrahi falsely portrayed himself as a licensed broker, a certified public accountant, and an experienced trader who employed sophisticated financial option- and insurance-hedging strategies through the brothers\u2019 business, MBIG Company. <\/span><\/p>\n

Both Mizrahi brothers operated MBIG out of their parents\u2019 home in Encino.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

\"FBI
FBI Photo Image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From June 2012 until March 2019, the Mizrahi brothers raised more than $7 million from investors, promised them \u201cguaranteed\u201d returns between 2% and 3% per month. <\/span><\/p>\n

Investors were promised annual rates of return ranging from 30% to 102% and assured them that their funds could be withdrawn on an on-demand basis after an initial holding period.<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither Mizrahi brother ever invested any victim-investor funds in an account under MBIG\u2019s name. <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, Motty Mizrahi transferred most of the victim-investor funds into his personal trading accounts at E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade, in which he accumulated persistent and extensive losses. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"As a result of their investments with MBIG, victim-investors sustained losses of at least $3.3 million. Sassi Mizrahi received hundreds of thousands of dollars of investor money and helped his brother conceal the truth about the scheme from MBIG\u2019s investors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sassi Mizrahi and his brother submitted phony monthly account statements that purported to show consistent monthly gains and falsely showed that MBIG\u2019s account balances were between $6 million and $9 million. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, Motty Mizrahi instead lost the investors\u2019 money\u2014losses he and Sassi Mizrahi denied when confronted by victims who unsuccessfully demanded their money back.<\/span><\/p>\n

“When victims asked for their money back, [Sassi Mizrahi] gaslit them with lies about the safety of their investments, promises of repayment he knew could not be honored, threats of retaliation, and forged documents meant to corroborate his increasingly baroque excuses for why the money was unavailable,\u201d prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.<\/span><\/p>\n

In October 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a judgment<\/a>\u00a0of more than $3 million against Motty Mizrahi and MBIG for perpetuating the fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The FBI investigated this matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assistant U.S. Attorneys Morgan J. Cohen and David Y. Pi of the Major Frauds Section are prosecuting this case.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SANTA ANA, California A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison for scheming with his brother to fraudulently obtain more than $7 million…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fbi","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nCalif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SANTA ANA, California A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison for scheming with his\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Calif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SANTA ANA, California A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison for scheming with his\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-28T02:34:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Calif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-28T02:34:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835\"},\"wordCount\":558,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"FBI\",\"U.S. Department of Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835\",\"name\":\"Calif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-28T02:34:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SANTA ANA, California A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison for scheming with his\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=54835#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"100 us dollar bill\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Calif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme","description":"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SANTA ANA, California A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison for scheming with his","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Calif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme","og_description":"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SANTA ANA, California A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison for scheming with his","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2023-11-28T02:34:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Calif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme","datePublished":"2023-11-28T02:34:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835"},"wordCount":558,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg","articleSection":["FBI","U.S. Department of Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835","name":"Calif. Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for $7 Million Ponzi Scheme","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-28T02:34:26+00:00","description":"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SANTA ANA, California A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison for scheming with his","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54835#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/3wqgssf-op4.jpg","width":800,"height":1200,"caption":"100 us dollar bill"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54839,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54835\/revisions\/54839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}