Rochester Man Sentenced for Swindling $11 Million from Investors

MINNEAPOLIS—Yesterday in federal court, a 35-year-old Rochester man was sentenced for swindling more than $11 million through an investment scam. On March 18, 2013, United States District Court Judge Ann D. Montgomery sentenced Jason Michael Meyer to 60 months in federal prison on one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Meyer was charged on August 21, 2012, and pleaded guilty on September 18, 2012.

In his plea agreement, Meyer admitted that he started an investment company, 3 Hooligans Investment Properties LLC (3 Hooligans), in 2007. Meyer then represented that he was an experienced investor and began soliciting people to invest their money with 3 Hooligans. He promised his clients both significant and rapid returns for their investments with little or no risk. He deposited their money into a bank account he opened at Wells Fargo. Instead of investing their money, however, Meyer often used the funds to pay for his personal expenses, including payments on his house in Rochester, family vacations, and car payments on his wife’s BMW. To continue the scheme, Meyer found new clients and used their money to pay previous clients.

Until the fraudulent scheme was discovered in 2010, Meyer participated in approximately 30 transactions of money laundering and 30 transactions of wire fraud, which together, resulted in losses exceeding $11 million.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura M. Provinzino.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office wants to remind people to protect themselves from investment fraud. For more information, visit http://www.stopfraud.gov/protect-securities.html.