Boynton Beach Man Sentenced to Jail in Mail Fraud Ponzi Investment Scheme

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Tom Grady, Commissioner, State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, announced that Anthony F. Cutaia, 65, of Boynton Beach, was sentenced yesterday in federal court. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley sentenced Cutaia to 51 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Cutaia had pled guilty in July 2011 to count two of a criminal information filed in June 2011, which charged him with mail fraud in connection with his participation in a real estate investment scheme from 2003 to 2006, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section, 1341. According to the filed Information and statements made during the plea hearing, Cutaia was the managing member and beneficial owner of CMG Property Investment Group, LLC, which purportedly engaged in commercial real estate investment. Cutaia was also the host of “Talk About Mortgages and Real Estate,” a television and radio program.

According to the factual basis in the plea agreement, from March 2003 through December 2006, Cutaia entered into Contract Participation Agreements with investors. These contracts stated that investors’ money would be used solely to purchase real estate contracts in Palm Beach and Broward Counties and that CMG would not collect commissions or fees until the properties were sold and a profit was made. In fact, however, Cutaia allegedly invested little of the investors’ money in real estate and instead used the investors’ money to make payments to pre-existing investors and to pay his own business and personal expenses.

Mr. Ferrer commended the efforts of the FBI and the State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation for their efforts in the investigation and prosecution of this case. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emalyn H. Webber.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.