INVESTMENT FIRM HEAD GETS 20 YEAR PRISON TERM FOR MAIL FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on December 13, 2011, the Honorable William Stiehl, United States District Court judge, sentenced Edward Lynn Moskop, 64, of Belleville, Illinois, to the maximum statutory penalties of 240 months’ imprisonment on Mail Fraud and 120 months on Money Laundering, to be served concurrently. Judge Stiehl also ordered Moskop to pay more than $1.49 million in restitution to his victims. The sentencing followed Moskop’s August 3, 2011 plea of guilty to the two count indictment.

Moskop's 20-year prison sentence was the culmination of his long-time investment fraud and misappropriation scheme. In the criminal case, the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Illinois alleged that Moskop, operating as Financial Services Moskop and Associates, Inc., acted as a securities broker for several customers by making investments on their behalf. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, from 1991 to 2010, Moskop persuaded customers to provide him with funds for investment. But, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, instead of making the investment, Moskop kept the funds for his own use. The U.S. Attorney’s office alleged that Moskop also provided his customers with fraudulent periodic investment statements showing false interest and gains in the investments. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Moskop obtained by fraud approximately $2,400,000 from 25 victims. The U.S. Attorney’s office alleged that Moskop’s victims included his relatives, individuals referred by trusted friends and attorneys, a local Veterans of Foreign War Post, and long-time customers of his insurance business.

The criminal charges against Moskop are related to the conduct underlying the SEC’s civil action against Moskop and his company, Financial Services Moskop & Associates. On November 19, 2010, the SEC filed an emergency civil action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to halt an ongoing fraud on investors conducted by Moskop and his company. In its complaint, the SEC alleged that from 1989 until the filing of the SEC’s action against Moskop and his company, Moskop misappropriated most of the life savings of at least two elderly investors. On the same day the SEC filed its case, the Honorable Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, United States District Court Judge, granted the SEC’s motion for emergency relief, entering a temporary restraining order against Moskop and his company and an order freezing their assets. On November 27, 2010, the court entered a preliminary injunction against Moskop and his company, and on July 21, 2011, the court entered a permanent injunction against Moskop and his company and continued the order freezing their assets. The SEC's action, which is ongoing, seeks disgorgement of the ill-gotten gains received by Moskop and his company, as well as civil penalties.”