A recently convicted fraudster who used fake letters of credit (L/Cs) in a venture capital scam faces a maximum sentence of 145 years in prison and fines of more than $2.4 million when he is sentenced in November.

Ralph McNamara, also known as Ralph deLuise, was convicted in October of multiple charges of racketeering, fraud, grand theft and money laundering.

Bogus L/Cs

In late 1999 through to February 2002, McNamara conspired with several others to create bogus companies that acted as shell companies for a venture capital scam, according to prosecutors.

They said the fraudsters assured their victims they had access to millions of US dollars for venture capital funding and used fraudulent L/Cs, purportedly from reputable banks, to support these claims.

Advance fee fraud

Eight victims were conned into paying more than $927,000 in advance fees into bogus schemes that were supposed to have brought them big returns, the prosecution said.

The victims were promised the fees would be held in an escrow account until their promised funding arrived, but McNamara and his fellow conspirators took the money for their own personal gain.

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