An American adviser has been slapped with two separate jail terms for wire fraud and tax evasion by the US Attorney for the eastern district of North Carolina.
Treyton Thomas, aged 63, will be jailed for nearly 22 years after being given 262 months for wire fraud and 60 months for tax evasion.
The terms will run concurrently.
In addition, he was ordered to repay $7.3m (£5.9m, €6.6m) to his victims and forfeit the same sum to the United States.
First indictments
In November 2016, Thomas was charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering after he managed to defraud his father’s used car warranty company, several of its customers, his wife, and his father-in-law.
He claimed he was going to invest the money in US treasury bills.
Instead, he used an online brokerage firm to “conduct risky trades in the commodities and futures market”, the North Carolina court heard.
Thomas also provided fake bank and brokerage statements for his victims to hide the fraudulent scheme; which he also used to defraud financial institutions out of around $1.9m in loans.
Of the victims’ funds, $1.6m was used to pay for Thomas’ personal expenses.
Second round
But the case does not stop there.
In March 2018, he faced additional charges for income tax evasion and failing to disclose interest in and authority over foreign bank accounts.
According to court documents, Thomas did not file his income tax return and avoided paying tax for two decades.
He managed to do so by using offshore companies in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Nevis, and “employed individuals from offshore corporation management companies to act as his nominee in numerous business ventures”.
These people opened and managed bank accounts used by Thomas to move his victims’ funds in and out of the US.
Final blow
Even though he pleaded guilty, the court agreed that Thomas’ effort to “obstruct justice” did not entitle him to a reduced sentence.
