There has been nonstop news about Florida Ponzi schemes in the past 48 hours. Several indictments have been announced, the latest involving Sean Healy of Weston.
Healy, 38, was charged in a 55-count indictment unsealed in Pennsylvania with multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors said Healy “spent the money to fund a lavish lifestyle.”
Purchases included “numerous exotic vehicles and sport cars, including a Bentley and several Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches worth over $2.3 million,” prosecutors said.
Obstruction of justice was charged because Healy thwarted a grand jury by providing “phony bank statements and phony trading records, indicating that the Pennsylvania investor’s money was used for legitimate trading activity in stocks and commodities,” prosecutors said.
“When the authentic records were obtained, they revealed that Healy had simply spent the money on his extravagant lifestyle and used some of it to pay back earlier investors who he defrauded between 2003 and 2008,” prosecutors said.
The grand-jury probe began in March, after an investor who had been scammed in Pennsylvania sued Healy and his wife, Shalese Rania Healy, in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida, alleging that Pennsylvania investors had lost $14.6 million with Healy between April 2008 and February 2009.
In July, the SEC and CFTC sued Healy in a case that alleged massive fraud. Also named in the complaints was Healy’s company, Sand Dollar Investing Partners LLC. Healy’s wife was named a relief defendant, meaning investigators believed she had received ill-gotten gains from the scheme.
CFTC said investor funds also were used to purchase gold bullion and “to lease a luxury suite at Miami’s BankAtlantic Arena.”
The sky was the limit, said an SEC official.
“Rather than investing the money as he promised, Sean Healy used investor funds to finance an extravagant lifestyle for himself and his family,†said Antonia Chion, associate director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
The July complaint by the SEC also alleged that Healy provided false information to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, which brought the obstruction charges and the other charges. The indictment was unsealed yesterday in Harrisburg, Pa.
Dennis Pfannenschmidt, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, cataloged the spectacular purchases Healy allegedly made with investors’ funds.
In addition to the automobles, Healy also bought a $2.4 million waterfront mansion furnished with more than $2 million of home improvements, plus $1.5 million in men’s and women’s jewelry, Pfannenschmidt’s office said.