Pinellas, Florida Man Gets 15 Years in Prison for $1.1 Million Venture Capital Scheme

Organized fraud ring operated out of South Florida and imitated a well-known charity for obtaining proceeds

November 20, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Pinellas man was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of probation after he was convicted of multiple charges of racketeering, fraud, grand theft and money laundering.

A Broward County jury returned the guilty verdicts against Ralph McNamara, also known as Ralph deLuise, in October after he was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution. McNamara, a former stock broker whose license was revoked in 1991, was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, communications fraud, grand theft, loan broker fraud and money laundering.

“The damage done to victims of white collar crime cannot be calculated simply as a dollar loss,” said Attorney General McCollum. “Victims rarely fully recover their dollar loss, and as demonstrated by the victim impact in this case, the effects are felt for years. These types of criminals need to be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.”

During late 1999 through May 2001, McNamara conspired with co-defendants operating at separate locations in Ft. Lauderdale, Ocoee, and New York City to create bogus companies that acted as shell companies for a venture capital scam. The co-conspirators promised their victims they had access to millions of dollars for venture capital funding and used fraudulent letters of credit purporting to be from reputable banks to support these claims. Victims were also led to believe a well-known organization, the Albert Schweitzer Association, was involved with the project when in fact that the defendants had created a bogus charity named the Albert Schweitzer Charitable Foundation to add an air of legitimacy to the scheme. The separate locations and bogus companies gave many of the victims a false sense of security that the defendants had legitimate enterprises and well-established operations in multiple states, when in fact they were regularly meeting on the St. Petersburg Causeway to split up the victims’ money.

Victims testified at the sentencing hearing about the impact these frauds had on their lives. Several reported they had lost their homes and declared personal bankruptcy while one victim became despondent over the humiliation and committed suicide. The victims were targeted either through internet advertising or through a network of associates who referred the victims for a finder’s fee.

Overall, McNamara and his co-conspirators enticed six victims to pay more than $1,167,500 in advance fees and expenses. The victims were promised the fees would be held in escrow until their promised funding arrived, but McNamara and his co-conspirators took the money for their own personal gain. The investigation was conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Co-defendants William DeFalco and Maurice Rico previously pled guilty to similar charges and cooperated with the state. Each received a sentence of five years in prison to be followed by ten years reporting probation with obligation for restitution upon release from prison. Co-defendant Philip Morrel Wilson died shortly before charges were filed in March 2003. Co-defendant Richard Keats, also known as Maurice Richards or Richard Kavenaugh, remains a fugitive.

Source: Florida Attorney General

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •