Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that STEPHEN GOODRICH, 57, of Rocky Hill, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for operating a scheme that defrauded investors out of more than $1.8 million.

According to court documents and statements made in court, GOODRICH formerly resided in Bristol where he conducted an investment business using the name Goodrich Financial. Although GOODRICH was not a licensed or registered investment adviser, he provided a business card to some investors that falsely represented that he was licensed to conduct an investment business. Beginning in approximately 2006 and continuing to approximately November 2012, GOODRICH defrauded individuals who had provided him with investment funds by failing to invest the funds as represented, and by using some of the investment funds for his personal use. At times, GOODRICH also used new investor funds to return the principal investment to older investors as is often done in Ponzi schemes. In order to prevent his investors from becoming aware of the scheme, GOODRICH provided written performance summaries to his investors that falsely represented the value of their investments. More than 10 investors collectively lost more than $1.8 million as a result of this scheme.

As part of his sentence, GOODRICH was ordered to pay full restitution to his victims.

During the years 2007 to 2011, GOODRICH used more than $600,000 of the investors’ funds for his personal use without disclosing this income on his federal tax returns. As a result, GOODRICH owes $239,443 in additional federal taxes, plus interest and penalties.

On October 7, 2014, GOODRICH waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.

GOODRICH, who is released on bond, was ordered to report to prison on April 24, 2015.

This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of the Connecticut Department of Banking. The case was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Richard J. Schechter.

Citizens are encouraged to report any financial fraud schemes by calling, toll free, 855-236-9740, or by sending an e-mail to ctsecuritiesfraud@ic.fbi.gov.