Earlier today, defendant Alexander Swanson, 49, was sentenced to 30 months of incarceration for engaging in a wire fraud scheme to steal the retirement savings of individuals in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere. “Swanson also forfeited more than $3 million in ill-gotten gains and was preliminarily ordered to pay more than $2.8 million in restitution to his victims.” According to court filings and facts presented during the sentencing proceeding, Swanson misrepresented his job, background, and investment experience to his victims, and then provided the victims with false reports touting his investments’ performance. These misrepresentations fraudulently induced the victims to invest with Swanson, who stole and squandered their retirement savings for his own benefit, including gambling his victims’ savings on sporting events.

The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and George Venizelos, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI).

“Swanson gambled that a false persona, lying about his job, background, and investment expertise would be enough in order to bilk unsuspecting individuals out of their hard earned retirement savings. While the fake Swanson promised them secure investments and gambled their money away, the real Swanson today received the only payout his actions deserve: a significant jail sentence,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “I would like to thank our partners at the FBI for their hard work on this important investigation.”

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher A. Ott.

The sentence was imposed by the Honorable Denis R. Hurley at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York.

This prosecution was the result of efforts by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit http://www.StopFraud.gov.

The Defendant:

ALEXANDER SWANSON
Age: 52
Smithtown, NY
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 13-CR-221