Man sentenced to 3 years in prison for organizing aircraft parts Ponzi scheme

Doral resident Anthony Saumell, president and CEO of Gear Management Corp., was sentenced to 38 months in prison followed by three years for supervised release for organizing a fraudulent investment scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced Tuesday.

Saumell pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud in August.

According to the indictment, Saumell organized a fraud scheme from about October 2011 through about March 2013 with the intention to defraud and enrich himself. Saumell solicited investments in GMC using false and fraudulent representations, according to the indictment.

Deceived investors put approximately $3.9 million into GMC, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Saumell sold investors on the success and experience of GMC in the aircraft parts buying and selling industry. He guaranteed investors that investments in the company would yield returns between 3 percent and 10 percent within 30 days, according to the indictment.

The problem was Saumell “used virtually no investor money in the purchase of aircraft parts, but rather used investor money for his own personal benefit and to further the fraud scheme,” according to the indictment.

Saumell would send investors sporadic payments to give his investors a false sense of security and to conceal the fraudulent nature of the scheme, according to the indictment. But by about October 2012, Saumell stopped making payments to investors entirely.

He had used the monies for things like jewelry, dining, alimony and art galleries, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. GMC was insolvent by October 2013. Overall, investors suffered approximately $1 million in losses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com