Owensboro, KY – A federal jury convicted an Owensboro man, a North Carolina man, and a Florida girl this week for conspiracies to commit mail fraud and securities fraud. The Owensboro man was additionally convicted of cash laundering and tried tax evasion for tax years 2013 and 2014.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Louisville Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson of the IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, made the announcement.
According to courtroom paperwork and proof introduced at trial, Richard G. Maike, 55, of Owensboro, Kentucky, Doyce G. Barnes, 73, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, and Faraday Hosseinipour, 54, of Jacksonville, Florida, had been convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in reference to the sale of positions in Infinity 2 Global, or I2G, purportedly a multi-level advertising and marketing firm which the United States proved at trial was working as a pyramid scheme. Maike, Barnes, and Hosseinipour had been additionally convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud in reference to the sale of $5,000 Emperor positions in the corporate as a type of passive earnings. Maike was additionally convicted of cash laundering and tax evasion in connection together with his use of roughly $3.2 million in I2G funds, a few of which had been wired to and from an Infinity 2 Global checking account in Hong Kong and utilized by Maike to buy 1800 acres of ranch land in Kansas for his private use. The proof at trial confirmed that in roughly 15 months, I2G offered practically 5,000 of the $5,000 Emperor positions producing, together with different lower-priced positions, over $30 million in income, a lot of which went out in the type of commissions to the promoters on the high of the pyramid construction. Commissions had been generated based mostly on recruitment of recent members into the corporate. Over 90% of the individuals who purchased a membership in I2G misplaced cash.
The trial began in Owensboro, Kentucky on July 12, 2022, and concluded with the jury’s verdict on September 7, 2022, after 4 hours of deliberation. Maike was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing. Maike, Barnes, and Hosseinipour are scheduled for sentencing in Owensboro earlier than a United States District Judge of the Western District of Kentucky on December 12, 2022. Maike faces a most penalty of 125 years in jail. Barnes and Hosseiniour every face a most penalty of 25 years in jail. There isn’t any parole in the federal system. The United States District Judge will decide the defendants sentences after contemplating the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and different statutory elements.
One co-defendant, Richard Anzalone, beforehand entered a plea of responsible to the conspiracy to commit securities fraud and testified at trial. He will likely be sentenced at a later date. Two different co-defendants, Dennis Dvorin and Jason Syn, had been severed for trial to be held at a later date. No trial date has been set for Dvorin and Syn.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Madison Sewell and Marisa Ford prosecuted the case with the help of paralegal Cristy Crocket.
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https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdky/pr/federal-jury-finds-three-guilty-pyramid-scheme
