Securities Crimes: Trader Jesse Litvak is Sentenced to Prison for MBS Fraud—Again, North Carolina Who Bilked NFL Players Will Serve Prison Time, and Ex-Stockbroker Gets Jail Time and Must Pay $3.5M to Investors

Ex-Jefferies Trader Will Go to Prison for Mortgage-Backed Securities Fraud After All
Jesse Litvak, the ex-Jefferies (JEF) managing director, has once again been sentenced to two years in prison. Litvak was found guilty of mortgage-backed securities fraud in 2014 and sentenced to two years behind bars. The conviction at the time was for multiple securities fraud charges and for making false statements, as well as for defrauding TARP.

Claiming that expert witnesses hadn’t been able to testify for him, Litvak was able to get that sentence tossed. However, the US government continued to go after him and he was found guilty on one fraud count. Now, he has again been sentenced to two years in prions.

Litvak also must pay $2M because he lied about bond prices to a customer. (The earlier conviction had come with a $1.75M fine.) According to U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall, Litvak’s victims only invested because he lied to them.

After Defrauding NFL Players, Businessman to Spend Time Behind Bars
A North Carolina businessman will go to prison for 65 months for stealing about $2.9M from NFL athletes. Michael Rowan ran APS Management LLC and Capital Management Wealth Advisors, through which he provided pro athletes with investment and financial services.

Rowan would reach out to college football players who were expected to join the NFL upon graduation. He offered to help manage their finances and provide investment guidance. After the NFL drafted them, Rowan would charge them up to $50K a year for his services. He had them sign paperwork giving them access to their money.

According to the government, Rowan transferred over $2.9M of the athletes’ funds to his accounts without their permission or knowledge. He did not report over $1.4M of these embezzled funds on his tax forms. As a result, the IRS lost over $479K.

Now, Rowan who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and submitting a false tax return, must not only serve prison time but also he must pay over $3.4M in restitution to his clients and the IRS.

Former Philadelphia Stockbroker Bilked Clients of $3.2M
William Bucci, an ex-stockbroker in Philadelphia, has been sentenced to 6.5 years behind bars and five years supervised release. He also must pay the IRS and his victims over $3.M in restitution.

Bucci pleaded guilty to securities fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud last year, as well as to submitting a false tax return. According to federal prosecutors, as far back as 2004 Bucci claimed he was starting a business in which he was going to import quality Italian wine and oil. He promised investors at least a 10% return and they invested $1.28M. However, there was no such business and he used their funds on himself.

Also, for the next several years Bucci made false representations to people in order to get them give him money. He used their money pay earlier investors and cover his debt. One loan of $480K from Beneficial Bank was supposedly for buying real estate. However, Bucci was late on payments and tried to get a forbearance agreement from the bank.

At The SSEK Partners Group, we represent high net worth individual investors and institutional clients seeking to recover their investment losses caused by securities fraud. Contact us today.

Ex-Jefferies Group trader sentenced to two years for fraud, Reuters, April 26, 2017

Ex-Jefferies trader’s fraud conviction tossed, NY Post, December 8, 2015

N.C. businessman sentenced for embezzling $2.9M from NFL players, BizJournals, April 28, 2017

Stockbroker Sentenced To 78 Months In Prison In Connection With Investment Scheme, Justice.gov, April 25, 2017