TOLEDO, Ohio — A fifth defendant in the Northwest Capital Ponzi scheme has taken a plea deal and will be sentenced later this month on five of the 20 charges against him.
John Walters pleaded guilty to one felony count of false statement in sale of a security and four felony counts of securing writings by deception. Prosecutors will drop all other charges against him. He is scheduled to be sentenced in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on May 18.
Walters was the chief risk officer for the investment firm and signed off on fraudulent documents used to deceive lending institutions and a business investor out of money that was then diverted to other businesses associated with the firm. His actions accounted for $9 million of the $72 million in total that was defrauded from more than 700 investments, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office…