California Man Sentenced for Fraud Scheme

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Sean Andrew O’Neal, 58, of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, was sentenced today in Omaha, Nebraska, to 54 months in prison by Chief United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for wire fraud.  There is no parole in the federal system.  O’Neal was also ordered to pay $477,324.27 in restitution to his victims.  After his prison sentence, O’Neal will serve a three-year of supervised release. 

Beginning in August, 2012 and continuing through March, 2014, O’Neal devised a scheme to defraud and obtain money from his victims, one from the Kearney, Nebraska, area and the other from Canada. O’Neal was a co-owner and employee of Investment Properties Mexico (IPM) located in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico.  The company was a real estate investment firm in the business of selling land and condominiums located in Mexico.  IPM marketed the company through the Internet to solicit private individuals seeking to purchase real estate in Mexico.  During those years, O’Neal befriended and groomed the victims into investing in his scheme when he was fully aware of the devastating financial impact the loss would have on his victims.  O’Neal then took the money provided by his victims and used the funds for his own personal gain. All the while, O’Neal continued to assure his victims that the properties in Mexico had been purchased.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.