Financial Planner Sentenced for Bilking Money from His Clients

DAYTON, OH—Joshua E. Knisley, 35, of Wilmington, Ohio, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and five years of supervised release for bilking the funds he was entrusted to manage and oversee for his clients. Knisley was sentenced on charges of willfully filing a false federal income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), wire fraud, and money laundering. In addition, Knisley forfeited a 2006 Jeep Commander. Knisley previously pleaded guilty to these charges on June 7, 2013.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office (IRS); and Kevin R. Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Office (FBI), announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas M. Rose.

According to court documents, between January 2007 and June 2011, Knisley was a business partner with an individual in a retail boat business known as 77 Marine which was located in Centerville, Ohio. In addition, Knisley was also a financial adviser for several individuals. Knisley engaged in an extensive scheme to defraud his financial advising clients, various employees and customers of Marine 77, various financial institutions, and the IRS.

Knisley created false documents, to include business checks, personal financial statements, purchase agreements, business sales reports, and other financial documents. Also, Knisley concealed from his financial advising clients the fact that he continued to divert investment funds, sales proceeds, and loan proceeds entrusted to him for unauthorized personal and business purposes.

In December 2010, Knisley, who was then a resident of Bellbrook, Ohio, willfully filed a false federal income tax return with the IRS for the 2007 income tax year claiming total income in the amount of $21,967, when he actually received approximately $153,761.75 in additional total income.

The total tax loss to the IRS caused by Knisley filing false federal income tax returns with the IRS was approximately $66,908 for the 2007-2009 income tax years. In addition, Knisley caused federal employment tax losses to the IRS in the amount of approximately $68,239.98 for 2008-2011 income tax years.

In December 2010, Knisley, in his capacity of a financial adviser, illegally devised a scheme to defraud an individual by falsely informing this individual that mortgage loans placed on this individuals residences located in Davie, Florida, and Lees Summit, Missouri, were fully paid off.

Between December 2010 and April 2011, Knisley illegally devised a scheme to defraud an individual by fraudulently selling this individual a 2010 Ski Nautique 200 boat for $54,529.54. At the time of the sale, Knisley did not own, possess, nor was authorized to sell the boat. Knisley caused this individual to wire transfer to him $34,529.54 from a bank located in South Africa to a bank account controlled by Knisley’s business, 77 Marine.

In December 2010, Knisley illegally devised a scheme to defraud an individual by causing this individual to wire transfer to him $50,000 from a bank located in West Palm Beach, Florida, to a bank account controlled by Knisley in Dayton, Ohio.

In December 2010, Knisley committed money laundering by making a check payable to cash from his personal bank account in the amount of $18,750, which were proceeds of his wire and bank fraud activities and were used to purchase a 2006 Jeep Commander.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dwight Keller and was investigated by special agents from IRS-Criminal Investigation and the FBI.