Former Stockbroker Arrested for Perpetrating Investment Fraud

BOSTON—A Cape Cod man was charged today with defrauding three people of $800,000 as part of a long-term investment scam.

Jeffrey M. Semanscin, 38, of Marstons Mills, was charged in a criminal complaint with violating the 1940 Investment Advisers Act. The charges allege that between 2007 and late 2013, Semanscin ran an investment fraud scheme in which he pretended to be the managing director of a private equity fund called Ibex Omega Private Equity. Three investors invested a total of about $800,000 with him. While Semanscin, a previously registered stockbroker, sent the investors periodic performance summaries and other financial information for the purported fund, the fund did not exist. Semanscin simply used the investors' money for his own personal expenses. By November 2013, Semanscin had dissipated all but $450 of the investor funds entrusted to him.

The case was referred to the United States Attorney’s Office by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), which became aware of the scheme in October 2013 through a tip submitted through the SEC’s website.

If convicted, Semanscin faces a maximum sentence under the statute of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $10,000 fine. The government will also seek $800,000 in restitution to Semanscin’s victims.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Andrew E. Lelling of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

The details contained in the complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.