PITTSBURGH—A Moon Township resident has entered a plea of guilty in Pittsburgh on charges of wire and mail fraud, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Ryan Blumling, 35, appeared before United States District Court Judge Arthur J. Schwab and pled guilty to two counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud in connection with a long running scheme whereby he swindled individuals who thought they were investing a coal mines and persons who were seeking loans to infuse cash into their businesses.

According to information presented to the Court, Blumling engaged in conduct over the period 2005 through 2014 in which he defrauded a series of potential investors and potential borrowers by making false representations and failing to use funds consistent with the promises he made to investors. Among his false representations were that the money given to him would be used in ongoing mining operations when, in fact, Blumling typically used the funds for personal expenses or to pay off previous investors who were threatening to sue him. In one instance identified for the Court, Blumling secured two wire transfers on the same day from an investor totaling $90,000. At the time Blumling received the money he had approximately $200 in his bank accounts. He used the investor’s funds to purchase a new Range Rover for himself, which a few weeks later he traded in on a new Lexus that he put into his wife’s name. In another instance Blumling sent an e-mail to a potential borrower to assure the borrower that he has access to enough money to fund the borrower’s need for a loan of over $7,000,000. As a part of the e-mail Blumling attached a bank statement for one of his accounts at PNC which showed a balance of over $9,000,000. However, as the investigation conducted by the FBI showed, in fact, at the time that account had a balance of zero.

According to the information provided to the Court there were more than 130 victims and more than $2,000,000 in losses suffered as part of Blumling’s fraudulent activities.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 or both at each of the four counts (two counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud). Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the guilty plea in this case.