A Georgia man was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court for using a website to fraudulently get people to invest in so-called “certificates”, promising a guaranteed rate of return after nine months. Of course, he just pocketed the money, authorities say.
Michael Patrick Luckett, 37, of Gainesville, Ga. got three years in jail followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay almost $100,000 in restitution to his victims. The Securities and Exchange Commission previously froze $220,900 in Luckett’s accounts, and they will start to distribute that to victims as well.
Luckett pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud July 14.
In his scheme, Luckett worked from his Boston apartment and duped about 15 people all around the country to send him more than $450,000 for investment in the fake “Transnational Fund”.
To try and hide his tracks, Luckett filtered the checks through an address in Hartford, which forwarded to Boston. It did not work.
The FBI says Luckett used nearly $100,000 of the funds received for expenses such as his personal rent and meals, making cash withdrawals and promoting the Transnational Fund website to try and get more money.
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