A fraudster has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for conspiring to solicit victims to invest millions of US dollars based on his false promises.

Pennsylvania-based William Graulich IV told investors that letters of credit (L/Cs) and medium-term notes he would obtain with their money would generate huge returns.

Minimum investment

Graulich and his fellow conspirators falsely claimed to have an exclusive investment platform that was only available to hand- picked, invited investors who would have to make a minimum investment of US$100 million.

The fraudsters also bamboozled victims by explaining that their investments would be safe and profitable because they would be held in a non-depletion attorney account.

L/Cs and notes

Investors were told that the money in this account would be used as collateral to secure a credit line that would be used to trade financial instruments, including standby L/Cs and medium-term notes.

Graulich and his co-conspirators promised weekly returns of a staggering 22 per cent and for a while, some investors appeared to receive good returns on their investments.

Investors duped

But these receipts were paid out of Graulich's own pocket while the cash he duped from investors was channelled straight into his personal bank account.

Investors typically parted with between US$2-4 million as the fraudsters said they would make an exception to the US$1 million minimum investment requirement.

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