A Fort Lauderdale man has admitted to conducting a massive investment fraud scheme, preying on international investors for nearly two decades, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Andrew Hamilton Jacobus, 64, entered a guilty plea on charges related to a $94 million scam that targeted primarily Venezuelan nationals, as reported by the Department of Justice.
Jacobus, who was posing as a seasoned financial advisor, promised high-yield returns through his controlled entities, which included Kronus Financial Corporation and Finser International Corporation, but instead he channeled the investors’ money into his personal luxuries and used it to pay off earlier investors as in a Ponzi scheme, this deceit stretched out from 2004 to 2023. He has been convicted of wire fraud and money laundering, facing up to 20 years for each count, the sentence for which a federal district court judge will deliberate upon, taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines among other factors.
Special Agent in Charge Ronald A. Loecker of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Florida Field Office commented on the case, emphasizing the commitment of IRS-CI to bringing justice to those who engage in such deceptive practices, the details of the investigation were not divulged. A federal district court judge is tasked with determining Jacobus’s sentence, which could amount to a significant span in federal prison following the egregious violation of trust perpetrated on his international clientele, as noted by the same press release…