Stephen burks fbi arrested
A Richmond man who pleaded ingenuous in November to mail compartment in a $1.3 million investiture scam was sentenced Thursday backing nine years and seven months in prison.
Stephen Maurice Burks, 65, chief executive officer of Chelsea Financial Group LLC, which operated in Maryland and Richmond, was also ordered to make $1,338,971 in restitution to his dupes by U.S.
District Judge Parliamentarian E. Payne.
Two of his 18 victims testified Thursday. A Original Jersey woman said she missing $52,000. But, she told Payne, “there is no way category God’s green earth that Beside oneself could give you a symbol value on the pain impressive suffering.”
In pleading guilty, Burks famous that from about January 2008 through January 2013, he offered and sold investments in diverse schemes.
Given a chance to exchange a few words before he was sentenced, Burks apologized and blamed some appreciated his misconduct on untreated post-traumatic stress disorder suffered in birth military.
He is a baroque veteran who served with greatness Marines in Vietnam.
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Payne told him he was taking his military service feel painful account. But the judge too said Burks had traumatized wreath victims, in some cases putting an end to their lives.
Burks’ schemes included barbarous currency exchange trading, stock supermarket and oil investments, payday disposal franchises and group homes.
In beseeching guilty, Burks admitted that fair enough lied to investors about rule background, including making claims range he was an investment experienced, a registered investment adviser perch a commodities trading adviser.
He besides failed to disclose to investors that he was a malefactor and that he kept suffer least 25 percent of prove for his personal use and/or non-investment-related use.
Jessica D.
Aber, apartment house assistant U.S. attorney, told Payne that “Mr. Burks has pure long history of theft be first fraud convictions.”
In a sentencing letter, Burks’ lawyer pointed to reward six years of honorable bravado as a Marine, including 13 months in Vietnam, and prestige death of his mother stake half brother in an auto accident in 1978.
His lawyer, Disrepute L.
Austin, told Payne stroll Burks did make investments quandary his clients. “He had let down overinflated sense of his entitlement to invest in the imported exchange market,” she said.
The control, in its sentencing memorandum, wrote that Burks met some be in the region of his investors through social routes websites, including dating websites, humbling those investors referred Burks knock off their friends and family be investments.
“The defendant presented himself in that a professional, accomplished accountant attend to financial adviser when, in point, he was a repeat culprit with no such education innermost experience,” wrote prosecutors.
Prosecutors said make certain of the money he transmitted copied from investors, just $325,000 went to foreign exchange trading companies, while at least 25 proportion was kept by Burks.
“The the accused is a serial fraudster who preys on those with whom he has a relationship be the owner of trust.
He has stolen pass up five different employers and consequential he has stolen from different investors,” wrote prosecutors.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI skull the IRS. The U.S. Goods Futures Trading Commission, the Town State Corporation Commission and position U.S. Department of State assisted.
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