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Boca Raton Defendant Sentenced in Connection with Ponzi Scheme
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, and J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner, State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, announced that defendant William Kirschner, 63, of Boca Raton, FL, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp to 10 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The Court also ordered him to pay $511,033 in restitution. Kirschner previously pled guilty to mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C.§ 1341. The defendant had been charged in a one-count Information filed on August 25, 2009.
As set forth in the Information and the written proffer filed with his plea agreement, in or about November 2006, Kirschner incorporated a company named Brini Trading Group, Inc., which he operated out of his residence in Boca Raton, Florida. Kirschner told friends and other potential investors that they would make between 3 percent and 7 percent per month as a return on their investment, mostly through Brini Trading. In all, Kirschner accepted approximately $950,000 from 11 individuals to purportedly conduct trades on their behalf.
Of these funds, however, Kirschner only traded approximately $100,000, which he ultimately lost. Kirschner spent approximately $400,000 of the monies received to support his lavish lifestyle, and used the majority of the remaining funds to make substantial Ponzi payments to investors, using new investment monies to make payments to other investors.
SAC John V. Gillies stated, “Investors entrusted their hard earned money and instead of receiving any return on their investment, their money was used to support William Kirschner’s extravagant lifestyle. The FBI has a firm commitment to investigate those who illegally enrich themselves by swindling investors.”
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State of Florida, Office of Financial Regulation. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Bell.
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