Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SAMUEL KLEIN, 66, of Greenwich, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for defrauding investors of nearly $1.5 million.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Klein controlled several different entities, including Visual Group LLC; O.S. Management, LLC; KF Pecksland LLC; Four Pines Holdings, LLC; and Payton Lane NH, Inc. In 2018, Klein made false representations to a victim investor, including that the victim’s funds would be invested in distressed debt, when Klein knew that all of the investment funds would not be used for the stated purposes. Based on these false representations, the victim investor wrote a check in the amount of $200,000 to Visual Group LLC for the purpose of making a purported investment in distressed debt. Klein caused the check to be transported from New York to Connecticut and deposited into a bank account in the name of Visual Group LLC. Klein subsequently solicited and received approximately $50,000 in additional funds from the victim investor.
The investigation further revealed that, from approximately July 2016 through at least June 2019, Klein defrauded three additional victim investors of a total of more than $1.2 million by making multiple false statements and misrepresentations.
Klein knew that all of the funds solicited from the victim investors would not be used for his stated purposes, and instead would be utilized by Klein for personal and other expenditures.
Judge Hall ordered Klein to pay restitution in the amount of $1,497,797.52.
On August 30, 2021, Klein pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of property taken by fraud and one count of money laundering.
Klein, who had been released on bond, was remanded to custody at the conclusion of today’s court proceeding.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer R. Laraia and David T. Huang.