Feds: Man charged in investment fraud
A federal grand jury has indicted a 64-year-old Greenwich man in an alleged investment fraud scheme that was investigated by the FBI and IRS criminal investigation unit.
Samuel Klein was charged with interstate transportation of property taken by fraud and of money laundering, a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Connecticut said.
Klein appeared in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons via videoconference and was released on $500,000 bond.
The Dec. 7 indictment alleges Klein “made false representations to a victiminvestor,” claiming the victim’s money would be invested in “distressed debt,” the release said.
The victim gave Klein a check for $200,000 made out to Visual Group LLC, which Klein controlled, according to federal authorities.
“Klein caused the check to be transported from New York to Connecticut and deposited into a bank account in the name of Visual Group LLC. Klein subsequently solicited and received an additional $50,010 from the victim-investor by falsely representing that Klein needed to purchase title insurance in approximately that amount,” the release said.
Authorities claim Klein knew the money would not be “used for his stated purposes, and that some of the funds would be utilized by Klein for personal and other expenditures,” the release said.
If convicted, Klein faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the charges.