Feds Charge Robert Stinson Criminally On Heels Of SEC Lawsuit; Prosecutors Say ‘Life’s Good’ Operator Stole More Than $17 Million In Ponzi Scheme, Wired Money Even As FBI Was Conducting Raid
Even as the FBI was executing search warrants in the case of Life’s Good Inc. operator Robert Stinson Jr., Stinson was “wiring stolen funds out of Life’s Good bank accounts to other accounts,” federal prosecutors said.
That act alone led to criminal charges of obstruction of justice. In a 26-count indictment in an alleged Ponzi scheme in which Stinson was accused of stealing more than $17 million from more than 260 investors, Stinson also was charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, money-laundering, bank fraud, filing false tax returns and making false statements to federal agents.
At 12:06 p.m. on June 29 — the date of the raid and while federal agents were executing search warrants — Stinson began a series of wire transactions in which he moved at least $225,000 to prevent the cash from being seized, according to the indictment.
Two of the transactions occurred during the same minute and involved two separate banks, according to the indictment.
The scam involved promises of fixed returns of between 8 and 16 percent in four bogus real-estate hedge funds, prosecutors said. They added that Stinson was not a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or Pennsylvania State University, as he had claimed.
Although Stinson, 55, of Berwyn, Pa., told a tale of fabulous business success, he actually was a recidivist securities offender and had multiple fraud convictions. Part of his most recent fraud involved and online “webinar” and a PowerPoint presentation, according to the indictment.
Stinson claimed to have “funded millions of dollars in real estate rehab and improvements as well as saved over 1,500 families from foreclosure free of charge,” according to the indictment.
“Advisors” who drove business to the criminal firm were paid commissions of between 5 percent and 10 percent of the money they brought in.
In 1986, he was convicted of wire fraud and larceny in U.S. Court in Delaware, according to records. In 1987, he was convicted of forgery and larceny in New Jersey state court. During the same year, he was convicted of mail fraud in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, in 1996, he was convicted of criminal conspiracy in state court in Pennsylvania. In 2001, he was convicted of bank fraud in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Stinson filed two bankruptcy petitions in 1999, one in October and another in December, according to records.
Nine years earlier, in 1990, he was charged with fraud by the SEC. He was ordered to pay a judgment of $7,680, but the judgment remains unpaid, according to court filings.
The SEC sued Stinson in June. The criminal probe was conducted by the FBI, the IRS and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
If convicted on all counts, Stinson faces a maximum sentence of 329 years in federal prison and a fine of $6.8 million.
Patrick,
I have followed coverage of this Stinson character since the story broke open back in June and kudos to writers like you for exposing all that you have. My biggest question, however, is why was he only given a $100,000.00 bail and who posted the 10% to spring him from jail the same day that he was arrested? Shouldn’t he be considered a flight risk since he’s facing 3 centuries in prison? Also, did you know that he still has an office in the Northern Liberties area of Philadelphia at 430 N. 6th St. and the business is or was called Intergen E-Health Solutions? Please tell me that this Stinson character is not at it again. He shouldn’t even be free.
K Purple
[…] earlier story. Click here for reuse […]
[…] Stinson, 56, of Berwyn, faces a maximum under federal sentencing guidelines of nearly 34 years in prison, federal prosecutors said. In his most recent scam, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of money laundering, five counts of wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud, three counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of making false statements to federal agents and one count of bank fraud. […]
[…] securites huckster Robert Stinson Jr. of the Philadelphia region was accused by the FBI in 2010 of wiring stolen funds even as a raid was under way. He later was accused of hiding assets and hatching a companion fraud […]