The high-stakes facade of diamond investment took a hit as the hammers of justice fell on Diamond Desk Corp. and PetersenLowe, LLC. Adam Jonathan Lowe, at 43, was handed a sentence over 6 years by Judge David Leibowitz just yesterday, following a slate of charges including conspiracy and committing wire fraud. Lowe’s forecast includes three years of supervised release and a restitution payment to the victims post-incarceration.
Falling in the footsteps of his co-conspirator, Murray Todd Petersen, aged 73, met his fate with a stiffer sentence of 9 years after a jury trial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Petersen, much like Lowe, is expected to serve three years of supervised release and make good on the harm done in monetary terms, compensating the tricked investors although, curiously, Scott Schafer, their third man in the scheme only received five years probation which witnesses might consider a slap on the wrist.
According to the Southern District of Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lowe’s role as both The Diamond Desk’s president and PetersenLowe, LLC’s manager marked him as the key supplier of fancy-colored diamonds – items that Petersen would then sell, bolstered by deceptive appraisals, promising safe investments and inflated returns. The entire operation, which promised a five to eight percent return, was eventually exposed as a Ponzi scheme cloaked in layers of deceit…