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Press Release

Ex-CEO of Irvine Financial Services Firm Sentenced to over 10 Years in Prison for Stealing $3.5 Million from Mostly Elderly Investors

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California

         LOS ANGELES – The former CEO of an Irvine-based financial services and insurance company has been sentenced to 121 months in federal prison for defrauding elderly victims who thought their money was being invested in a certificate of deposit at a major bank – but, instead, was actually used to fund his lavish lifestyle.

         Mehmet Fatih Biyikoglu, a.k.a. “John B.,” 53, of Palm Desert, was sentenced late Tuesday afternoon by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who also ordered him to pay $3,561,300 in restitution.

         Biyikoglu, who pleaded guilty in July 2019 to one count of wire fraud, was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Five Star Financial Services of America. From 2014 through 2016, he solicited more than $4 million from investors, many of whom were elderly, retired or financially unsophisticated. Biyikoglu falsely told investors that their money would be placed in a Chase Bank certificate of deposit (CD), where it would earn 9 to 13 percent interest with little risk to the investors’ principle.

         In reality, the Chase Bank CD did not exist and Biyikoglu stole the investors’ money. Biyikoglu used the pilfered funds to finance his own lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of a Rolls Royce and other luxury automobiles. By comparison, Five Star investors lost nearly everything, including one 70-year-old victim who lost nearly all of his $1.6 million investment.

         To cover up his scheme, Biyikoglu created fraudulent account statements – which included the Chase Bank logo – to deceive investors into believing their money was held in a segregated account at Chase Bank and was earning interest as promised.

         During the course of the scheme, 11 investors transferred just over $4 million into Five Star. These victims suffered losses of approximately $3.45 million. Another victim lost just over $100,000 to Biyikoglu.

         “Biyikoglu’s conduct is reprehensible,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “He targeted elderly and retired investors who would be seeking a safe vehicle for their retirement savings, knowing full well that those victims depended on those assets to support themselves during their remaining years. He has left many of his victims with nothing, forcing them to live on fixed incomes.”

         In January 2019, eight months after his arrest in this case and while he was free on bond, Biyikoglu removed his location-monitoring ankle bracelet and attempted to flee to Mexico. He was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border, carrying $1,300 in cash, 8,700 pesos and a significant amount of luggage.

         Two co-conspirators charged in this case have pleaded guilty and are serving prison sentences imposed last year by U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford. Anna Marie Holt, 60, of Fountain Valley, Five Star’s former president and chief operating officer, is serving a three-year federal prison sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and subscribing to a false tax return.

         Ida Shaghoian, 39, of Palm Desert, a sales agent with Five Star and Biyikoglu’s ex-wife, is serving a four-year prison sentence for wire fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. When she pleaded guilty, Shaghoian admitted participating in the Five Star scam, as well as running another fraud scheme that diverted investors’ retirement savings into a risky real estate venture called Island Sea LLC. Shaghoian also admitted that she defrauded an 86-year-old man out of $100,000 after meeting him at a restaurant and later leading him to believe she had become his girlfriend.

         This matter was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. The California Department of Insurance provided substantial assistance.

          This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Scott D. Tenley of the Santa Ana Branch Office.

Contact

Thom Mrozek
Director of Media Relations
United States Attorney’s Office
Central District of California (Los Angeles)
(213) 894-6947

Updated March 12, 2020

Topics
Securities, Commodities, & Investment Fraud
Elder Justice
Press Release Number: 20-053