Westchester Investment Manager Sentenced to 10 Years for Operating a Multi-Million-Dollar Ponzi Scheme

On Thursday, June 14, 2012, a Westchester man who ran a $12 million Ponzi scheme was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment in Brooklyn federal court. Anthony John Johnson, age 42, who ran Gibraltar Partners, an investment advisory service, was sentenced by United States District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano. In April 2011, Johnson pleaded guilty to committing the Ponzi scheme while he was awaiting sentencing on an earlier securities fraud conviction related to his employment at Park Capital Securities.

The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The defendant defrauded 72 families of over $12 million by soliciting their investments in various ventures allegedly taking place around the world, including in Australia and China. Johnson used money he obtained from his victims to repay earlier investors and to pay his living expenses. On August 3, 2011, the defendant was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for the Park Capital crimes. Today’s sentence of 120 months will run consecutive to that sentence.

“This defendant walked into the living rooms of families in the New York City area and lied to them and stole their savings to fuel his illegal scheme. This office is committed to identifying and prosecuting corrupt investment advisors,” said United States Attorney Lynch. “The most troubling aspect of this crime, however, is that it was committed while Johnson was awaiting sentencing on another crime.”

Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which led the government’s criminal investigation.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Sean Sinclair and Ilene Jaroslaw.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.