A 52-year-old Smithtown man who deceived investors and stole from people’s retirement savings was sentenced Friday at U.S. District Court in Central Islip to 30 months in prison for a $3 million wire fraud scheme he operated, federal prosecutors said.
Alexander Swanson was also forced to forfeit more than $3 million in ill-gotten gains, prosecutors said, and was ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution to his victims.
Swanson convinced people to invest by misrepresenting his job, background and investment experience, prosecutors said. He also issued false reports boasting about this investments.
Loretta Lynch, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Swanson gambled that a false persona “would be enough in order to bilk unsuspecting individuals out of their hard earned retirement savings.”
“While the fake Swanson promised them secure investments and gambled their money away, the real Swanson today received the only payout his actions deserve: a significant jail sentence,” Lynch added.
Prosecutors said the scheme impacted investors in New York and New Jersey.
