South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Gregory N. McKnight, et al., Civil Action No. 08-cv-11887 (E.D. Mich.)
15 Year Prison Term for Gregory Mcknight, Orchestrator of $72 Million Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that on August 6, 2013, the Honorable Mark A. Goldsmith of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced Gregory N. McKnight to 188 months (15 years and 8 months) in prison, followed by supervised release of 3 years, and ordered McKnight to pay $48,969,560 in restitution to his victims. McKnight, 53, of Swartz Creek, Michigan, had previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud for his role in orchestrating a $72 million Ponzi scheme involving at least 3,000 investors. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan filed criminal charges against McKnight on February 14, 2012. McKnight was taken into custody immediately after the sentencing hearing.
The criminal charges arose out of the same facts that were the subject of an emergency action that the Commission filed against McKnight and others on May 5, 2008. On that same day, the Court issued orders freezing McKnight’s assets and those of several companies he controlled, and appointed a Receiver. The Commission’s complaint alleged that, from December 2005 through November 2007, McKnight, through his company Legisi Holdings, conducted a fraudulent, unregistered offering of securities in which he raised approximately $72 million from more than 3,000 investors in all 50 states and several foreign countries. According to the Commission’s complaint, McKnight represented that he would invest the offering proceeds in various investment vehicles and pay interest of as much as 15 percent per month from the resulting profits. The complaint charged that McKnight invested less than half of the offering proceeds and that these investments resulted in millions of dollars in losses. The Commission’s complaint further charged that McKnight used investor funds to make Ponzi payments to investors and for his own use. The Commission’s complaint charged McKnight with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.
On July 6, 2011, the Court entered a final judgment against McKnight in the Commission’s action, and ordered McKnight to pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties totaling approximately $6.5 million. The court also issued orders permanently enjoining McKnight from future violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act, Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. On July 9, 2013, McKnight’s associate Matthew J. Gagnon was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in promoting Legisi.
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