A Florida man accused of engaging in a $36 million Ponzi scheme is scheduled to face a criminal jury trial in federal court in March.
Brent Adam Seaman, 51, of Sarasota, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission charged civilly in 2023, was indicted in November on
five counts of wire fraud, four counts of money laundering and two counts of tax fraud for allegedly operating a years-long investment fraud scheme through his companies, the Accanito Capital Group and Accanito Holdings.
Among the allegations, he was charged with laundering money to buy a Ferrari and jewelry and charter a private jet, and with underreporting his income on 2019 and 2020 federal tax returns, according to the Justice Department. Seaman lost substantial victim investments in currency trading, DOJ says.
He pleaded not guilty.
Seaman, who does not appear to have been a registered advisor, is scheduled for trial March 2 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Fort Myers following a Feb. 9 video status conference.
From at least June 2019 to November 2022, Seaman, who lived in Naples and posed as a successful entrepreneur and currency trader, defrauded investors by making fraudulent representations about his trading success, use of victims' funds, guaranteed rates of return, the purported investments' status and terms, and his management activity, the Justice Department alleges.
"Rather than investing these funds as promised, Seaman used new victim-investor funds to repay old victim-investors in a Ponzi-style investment scheme, lost a substantial portion of investments in currency trading, and enriched himself through the purchase of jewelry, cars, other luxury and personal items, and to pay off credit card debt," the department said, citing the November indictment.
"Based on his false statements, Seaman obtained approximately $36 million from victims, many of whom were local Florida residents known to Seaman personally," the DOJ added.
In 2023, the SEC charged Seaman and entities he managed with fraudulently raising about $35 million from at least 60 investors, including elderly people and members at the church he attended, through an unregistered securities offering.
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