A Berwyn man pleaded guilty today in federal court to a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of more than $17 million.
A federal grand jury indictment in November 2010 charged Robert Stinson, Jr., 56, with the scheme dating back to 2006. Stinson ran a company called Life’s Good, which solicited investments to four real estate hedge funds, promising investors annual returns of 10 to 16 percent. Stinson spent most of the money, however, on vehicles, entertainment, travel, and paying relatives for no-work jobs.
As part of Stinson’s scheme, he told investors he had degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Penn State with a wealth of business experience, but actually he had been convicted of fraud several times and previously enjoined from committing securities fraud by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 13. Stinson faces a maximum of 329 years in prison.
