Judge sentences Tennessee man to 27 months for wire fraud in investment fraud scheme

ST. LOUIS – United States District Judge Stephan R. Clark sentenced Joshua McDonald to a 27- month term of imprisonment to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release.  The defendant had previously pleaded guilty in April to four counts of wire fraud.

McDonald was the owner and operator of Perfection PR Firm LLC, that conducted business in the Eastern District of Missouri.  McDonald told potential and actual clients that Perfection PR traded in the Foreign Exchange Market (Forex) for clients by pooling their funds. 

McDonald was not registered as a broker-dealer, broker-dealer agent, investment advisor, investment advisor representative, or an issuer agent as required by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). 

Beginning in November 2017 and continuing to June 2019, McDonald devised a scheme to defraud and to obtain money by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.  McDonald falsely told prospective clients that he would provide a minimum of 20% to 50% return per month on their Forex investments.  McDonald further falsely told investors that they had made substantial gains in their Forex investments with him when, in fact, he had used their funds on his own personal expenses and, without their knowledge or consent, invested and lost their funds in cryptocurrency.  McDonald directed investors to deposit their Forex investments funds, primarily through wire transfers, into his personal bank account or the Perfection PR bank account.   McDonald caused over $350,000 in loss to numerous victims of his scheme.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

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