A man has been sentenced in federal court in Massachusetts in connection with a US$10 million ponzi scheme linked to Jamaica.
Mark Anderson Jones, 64, was sentenced on Thursday to 70 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
He was ordered to pay restitution of US$3.7 million.
In September last year, Jones, who is from Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in proceeds of unlawful activity.
From 2008 to 2015, Jones obtained more than US$10 million in investments from more than 20 individuals by leading them to believe that they would be providing financing to Jamaican businesses.
Jones claimed that he was offering the businesses bridge loans.
However, Jones misled investors about the purported bridge loan investments and how their money would be used.
Rather than investing in bridge loans and paying returns based on those investments, Jones used new capital to either repay investment principal or to pay purported returns to earlier investors