Charming con ‘king of porn’ sentenced to 14 years
Galanis cheated Native American tribal entity, pension fund investors of millions of dollars Jason Galanis defrauded a Native American tribe into issuing bonds before selling the illiquid bonds to unwitting pension funds only to steal the proceeds Forbe
New York, Aug. 11: A Los Angeles man once dubbed ‘Porn’s New King” was sentenced Friday to over 14 years in prison after cheating a Native American tribal entity and pension fund investors of tens of millions of dollars.
Jason Galanis, 47, was sentenced to 14 years and five months in prison by US district judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan for a scheme that lost over $40 million.
Mr Abrams said Galanis was “charming, manipulative and flat-out lying to people” as he carried out his crimes from March 2014 through April 2016.
Before the sentence was announced, Mr Galanis said there “simply aren’t enough words to fully describe how sorry I am”.
“I stand before you humiliated, utterly humiliated,”
he added. “It will be with me forever.”
In a release, acting US attorney Joon H. Kim said Mr Galanis and others cheated their tribal clients and the investing public to enrich themselves. He said they defrauded a
Native American tribe into issuing bonds before selling the illiquid bonds to unwitting pension funds only to steal the proceeds for themselves.
According to prosecutors, beginning in 2014, Galanis and his father, John, persuaded the Wakpamni Lake Community Corp, an affiliate of the Oglala Sioux Nation, to issue $60 million in municipal bonds.
“For his role in this campaign of theft and deception, Jason Galanis will now spend over 14 years in prison,” Kim said.
Prosecutors said that Me Galanis misappropriated over $8.5 million for his personal use, including to buy a home, jewellery, clothing, travel, entertainment and meals.
The scheme left bond investors holding worthless securities, and the tribal corporation with no way to make interest payments due on the bonds, prosecutors said.
Mr Galanis pleaded guilty to the scheme in January. He had already pleaded guilty in July 2016 to a separate scheme to manipulate shares of the now defunct reinsurer Gerova Financial Group Limited.
Forbes magazine labelled Mr Galanis “Porn’s New King” in 2004 after he bought the nation’s biggest payment processor for Internet pornography.