The sentence comes during International Fraud Awareness Week
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage man was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for defrauding at least 177 victims of more than $26 million through an investment fraud scheme.
According to court documents, Garrett Elder, 30, convinced victims to transfer funds to him for investment in stocks and foreign currencies on their behalf through deceptive and false representations of his trading methods between 2016 and October 2022. Some of the defendants’ victims were family members and friends.
The defendant executed the scheme primarily through his two entities, Tycoon Trading LLC and the Daily Bread Fund LLC. Elder solicited investments based on misstatements and omissions about his trading methods and returns. He then provided falsified account reports showing positive returns.
In total, the investigation revealed that Elder falsely told his investors that they had made over $11 million dollars in non-existent profits when, in fact, the defendant had been consistently losing money for years. The investigation identified that the defendant lost around $20 million trading, and used the remainder to fund a lavish lifestyle, finance commissions and payments to business associates, purchase assets and gifts, and pay other personal expenses.
In addition to time in prison, the defendant is required to pay $26 million in restitution to approximately 177 victims and serve three years of supervised release as part of his sentence.
“Mr. Elder’s case is one of the worst fraud cases our office has handled with respect to the number of victims and amount of money he stole. This case shows that white collar crime can impact anyone and cause immense damage to people, families and communities, and that no person or company is above the law,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “Prosecuting criminals who choose to commit calculated financial crimes will remain a priority for our office, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to seek justice for victims of these crimes.”
“In what’s regarded as the largest investment fraud scheme perpetrated in Alaska, Mr. Elder’s greed and deception is an affront to the honest, hard-working victims he bilked out of millions of dollars,” said Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “With dedicated special agents, forensic accountants, and analysts who work tirelessly to unravel complex fraud schemes, the FBI is dedicated to investigating financial crimes to hold criminals accountable and to protect the financial security of all Alaskans.”
Elder is the most recent fraud case the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska has successfully prosecuted in their prioritization of holding financial and white-collar criminals accountable. The office has dozens of open cases covering a range of financial crimes, including health care fraud, bankruptcy fraud, money laundering, fraud on federal agencies, and federal program fraud surrounding misuse of COVID-19 recovery funds.
These cases are a joint effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement and are often a product of thousands of hours’ worth of investigation and expertise due to the complexity of financial crimes.
The FBI Anchorage Field Office investigated the Elder case with assistance from the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED), Division of Banking and Securities.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Heyman and Seth Beausang prosecuted the Elder case.
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