Dante DeMiro's fraud reaches
Admitted Ponzi crook Dante DeMiro, who stole $3.7 million from Mona Shores Public Schools, was sentenced to 10 years in prison today for multiple fraud that has ballooned to nearly $13 million.
DeMiro, who admitted in April to defrauding five victims of more than $7 million, was ordered to pay $12.9 million in restitution to a long list of victims beyond the five named in the criminal case against DeMiro. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Port Huron.
Mona Shores was ordered to receive $3.7 million, according to a spokesman for the court, who said there are many victims. Shores sent $3.7 million in voter approved bond proceeds to DeMiro, who operated Southfield investment firm MuniVest, who was supposed to use the money to buy certificates of deposit from multiple banks. However, DeMiro admitted he used that money to pay off other investors and for his personal use that included gambling. Attorney with three counts of felony bank fraud and two counts of felony wire fraud. The charges carry 30 years for bank fraud and 20 years for wire fraud. DeMiro's sentence is at the top of an eight to 10 year range based on sentencing guidelines. Under his agreement, DeMiro would have been able to withdraw his plea if he was sentenced to more than 10 years and one month.
defendant in this case exploited the market downturn to convince conservative clients that their money was safe with him in low risk certificates of deposit. Attorney Barbara McQuade. significant sentence is important in deterring other investment advisers from stealing from vulnerable investors.
A list of all of DeMiro's victims was not immediately available. However, the City of Muskegon Heights has said it is among DeMiro's victims,
cartier love braclet replica, after having sent him $195,000 in 2007. A Postal Workers Union local in Pontiac contacted the Chronicle to say it too was a victim.
Among other victims that submitted victim impact statements was UAW Local 723 of Monroe, which sent $300,000 to DeMiro. The money was savings accumulated over 50 years the diligence of members that are mostly now retirees, reads the statement by Mike Keck, the union's financial secretary.
financial secretary (it) is hard to explain how a person touted himself as being a 'Friend of Labor' and providing secure, insured investments was instead a thief who has made off with all their hard work, Keck wrote.
DeMiro took more than money. In the case of former Mona Shores Superintendent Terry Babbitt, DeMiro's actions cost him his job. Though the FBI made it clear school personnel were not suspects in any fraud, Babbitt and the district's former finance director were presssured to resign earlier this year as a result of DeMiro's deeds. The finance director, Mike Schluentz, has since found another job with Fruitport Community Schools.
The FBI says it tracked $765,445 of the school district money to payments DeMiro made to Lapeer County and Comstock Township. Those municipalities also had sent money to DeMiro for bank CDs he never purchased, and despite the payments they received from him, they are still owed nearly $2 million.
Some of the victims money was used for a $1.6 million payment to a labor union in Allen Park that had invested with DeMiro, according to the criminal complaint.
DeMiro got away with his fraud, which began in 2007, by sending clients detailed phony financial statements to make it appear he had invested their money, according to the criminal complaint. In Mona Shores case, DeMiro had achieved a level of trust from the school district by successfully investing money for the district since 1999, according to school officials.
"Today's swindlers artfully conceal their greed with sophisticated marketing and numerous misrepresentations, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena. and pension plan participants must remain diligent in following their money."
Mona Shores' impact statement indicated the district had expected to earn $158,732 in interest on its final doomed investment with DeMiro.
The school district's money was part of bond funds voters approved in 2009 for $12.5 million in improvements throughout the district, including a new high school gymnasium and renovations to the football stadium. Some of those improvements remain incomplete, including new football locker rooms at the high school that lack lockers and flooring and computers that weren't purchased.
As part of his plea,
cartier bangle, DeMiro agreed to forfeit MuniVest's assets, including $983,
love cartier bracelet,759 in seven bank accounts; three mortgage notes totaling $963,000; promissory notes worth more than $1.37 million; two homes worth an estimated $600,000; a 2009 Harley Davidson; 2009 a Cadillac Escalade; a 2007 Cadillac STS; numerous computers, including 10 laptops; and a Rolex watch.
Mona Shores has filed a forced bankruptcy case against DeMiro,
cartier love bangle bracelet, and it's not immediately clear how that will be affected by the federal judge's restitution order issued Tuesday. The school district also is seeking financial compensation from a former employer of DeMiro's, Brookstone Securities, through a legal claim filed with the regulatory agency for securities markets.
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