{"id":7038,"date":"2014-10-31T13:55:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T20:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=7038"},"modified":"2014-10-31T13:55:00","modified_gmt":"2014-10-31T20:55:00","slug":"con-man-wiped-many-elderly-victims-life-savings-sent-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=7038","title":{"rendered":"Con Man Who Wiped Out Many Elderly Victims’ Life Savings Sent to Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ponzi<\/a>
Ponzi Schemes Image (Courtesy of FBI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CHARLOTTE, NC<\/strong>\u2014 A thirty-five-year-old man lulled his victims into a false sense of security by falsely promising 60 to 80 percent annual returns on their investments, officials said.<\/p>\n

Many of Sean F. Mescall’<\/strong>s victims were elderly and invested most, if not all, of their life savings. Overall, Mescall took more than $1.5 million from 119 people who “invested” in his investment company, Capitalstreet Financial LLC, \u00a0from 2006 to 2010, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

It was a Ponzi scheme.<\/p>\n

Mescall, of Charlotte, deposited most of the investors\u2019 money into various bank accounts he controlled in the United States and offshore. He used much of the money for personal expenses such as a BMW, a Ferrari and other cars, a Rolex watch, diamonds and other jewelry, and to make mortgage payments on his Lake Norman residence, according to officials.<\/p>\n

State and federal authorities investigated Mescall’s con and Thursday, he was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.2 million as restitution, the U.S. Justice Department officials said.<\/p>\n

In December 2012, a federal jury convicted Mescall of securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant seemed to have no sense of the traumas suffered by the victims,\u201d U.S. District \u00a0Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. said in announcing Mescall\u2019s sentence. \u201cThese losses were significant, life impacting events because of the defendant\u2019s greed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mescall Lied to His Victims<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the course of the scheme, Mescall only traded $285,908 of the victim\u2019s money, and sustained $271,705 in losses, officials said. Mescall falsely representing that their money would be invested in the foreign currency market.<\/p>\n

Court documents show that Mescall lied to his victims about his professional background and credentials falsely claiming that he was a college graduate with over 20 years of experience trading in the foreign exchange markets, and that he was a former director at Merrill Lynch.<\/p>\n

Court records indicate that Mescall did not have a college degree, had no relevant trading experience and never worked for Merrill Lynch. Mescall also misled his investors about Capitalstreet, claiming that it was a national company with over 35 offices, and that Capitalstreet handled over $100 million in trade volume each month.<\/p>\n

Court records indicate, Capitalstreet only operated a boiler room in Charlotte and later in Cornelius, \u00a0it never handled $100 million in trade at any time during the scheme.<\/p>\n

Mescall used approximately $295,000 to pay some victims supposed \u201cpayouts\u201d from profits made on investments.<\/p>\n

These payments were not based on profits, but came from funds contributed by new investors, commonly referred to as \u201cPonzi\u201d payments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHARLOTTE, NC\u2014 A thirty-five-year-old man lulled his victims into a false sense of security by falsely promising 60 to 80 percent annual returns on their investments, officials said. 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