New Jersey man sentenced to 3 years for defrauding clients including Chicago-based investors out of $1.5M
CHICAGO (CBS) – A New Jersey investment manager is sentenced to three years in federal prison after defrauding clients out of $1.5 million, as announced Thursday by United States Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr. for the Northern District of Illinois
Eugene Z. Nowak, 57, represented himself to investors as the president of Global Funding Partners – a corporation in Nevada that is alleged to be an investment firm with dealings with multinational banks and financial institutions.
In May, Nowak pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He admitted to falsely representing to investors, between 2013 to 2016, including Chicago-based investors, that their funds would be used to provide temporary funding.
The funding was claimed to be used for Global Funding Partners to close a $33 million financial transaction involving a large international bank.
Nowak admitted to falsely promising that investors would receive high-yield returns in a short amount of time and that they could cancel their investment at any time for a full refund with interest.
He used the funds instead to cover his personal expenses - including payments to a car dealership and pawn shop in Naples, Florida - causing multiple investors to suffer losses of up to $1.5 million.
Nowak was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison followed by two years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to pay restitution to the investors that he defrauded.