DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A MAN WHO SWINDLED $17 MILLION IN INVESTOR FUNDS was sentenced on Friday, June 27 to 18 years in prison, as a repeat offender. U.S. District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto presided at the sentencing of Richard Dale Sterritt, Jr., 67, also known as “Richard Richman,” for conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, multiple counts of securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The charges relate to a scheme to defraud investors in Zona Energy, an oil and gas exploration company in Texas – Sterritt’s home state – and a scheme to manipulate stock in OrgHarvest, Inc., a publicly traded company that Sterritt controlled. In total, Sterritt raised approximately $17 million from investors and misappropriated most of the money. As part of the sentence, Sterritt was ordered to forfeit approximately $17 million in fraudulently obtained gains and pay approximately $16.3 million in restitution to his victims…