Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Sky Capital founder sentenced to 12 years prison

    Reuters – Thu, May 3, 2012

    (Reuters) - The former chief executive of defunct brokerage Sky Capital LLC was sentenced on Thursday in a Manhattan federal court to 12 years in prison for defrauding investors, Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara said.

    Last year, Ross Mandell and former Sky broker Adam Harrington were each convicted by a Manhattan federal jury of securities fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit each of these offenses.

    Investigators termed the case a "boiler room" scheme, which refers to high-pressure sales, usually by telephone, of stocks or other assets that are often worthless or of dubious value.

    The defendants raised more than $50 million from investors in connection with the scheme and the court ordered Mandell to forfeit the money, Bharara said in a statement.

    "For nearly a decade, Ross Mandell continuously lied, and directed his brokers to lie to investors, convincing them to make investments that Mandell knew were not what was promised," Bharara said.

    Prosecutors had accused Mandell and Harrington of soliciting investors, mainly in the United States and United Kingdom, through cold calls and high-pressure sales tactics to invest in two Sky entities, promising that their prices would rise "dramatically" because of imminent "liquidity" events, such as initial public offerings or acquisitions.

    The defendants were accused of diverting investor funds, enriching themselves and paying undisclosed commissions to brokers. The indictment said the men inflated Sky's stock prices through a variety of means, including refusing to let some investors sell their stock.

    The scheme ran from 1998 to 2006, and involved Sky Capital and its predecessor, Thornwater Co, prosecutors said at the trial.

    In addition to his prison term, Mandell, of Boca Raton, Florida, was sentenced to three years of supervised release. Harrington is due to be sentenced on Friday.

    The case is U.S. v. Mandell et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Case No. 09-00662

    (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad; Editing by Richard Pullin)

     

    35 comments

    • John Adams
      John Adams  •  20 days ago
      They should have sent the CEO & Founder of countrywide mortgage to prison for 12 years also; instead he was fined 160 million by the SEC (which his insurance company covered), & made off with 12 billion as a result of one of the biggest frauds ever in U.S. history...
      • Patricia
        Patricia 19 days ago
        Hey, Rick Scott was fied 1.8 "B"illion for Medicare fraud and ot elected as governor!
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Houston, Texas  •  20 days ago
      I cannot wait to see more of these scumbags put in jail.
    • Elizabeth
      Elizabeth  •  Yuba City, California  •  18 days ago
      Make him pay back every penny plus tax. And then maybe justice will be served.
    • Johnathan
      Johnathan  •  Fayetteville, North Carolina  •  19 days ago
      "American Greed" will NEVER go off the air.
      • Taylor
        Taylor 16 days ago
        Doesn;t the same greed exist in other countries? It isn't an American invention.
      • Johnathan
        Johnathan 16 days ago
        Why are you stating the obvious? Perhaps you should let the kid handle the keyboard.
    • Agent-007
      Agent-007  •  Pleasanton, California  •  20 days ago
      Thank God!!! I hoped they'd go bankrupt! Who'da thunk you could advertise criminal usery and get away with it! Everyone who borrowed money should file for bankruptcy, then SUE!!!!
      • Agent-007
        Agent-007 20 days ago
        Let's hope all the cash advance companies are next to fall! USA! USA! USA!
    • SuperG
      SuperG  •  Portland, Oregon  •  19 days ago
      Having lots of money doesn't make you happy, lovable, or wise. It actually makes you a target, unhappy, and prone to do stupid things like marry a girl 30 years younger than you. The most unhappy people I have met in my life have all been millionaires. It must be fun to be doted on by the public, and you can buy whatever you want on a whim, but when you are all alone in the sandbox and nobody wants to play with you, what have you really got?
      • Raccoon City Survivor
        Raccoon City Survivor 19 days ago
        and according to republicans, having lots of money makes you a "job creator."

        according to republicans this man is just successful in life, and shouldn't be demonized on how he makes his money.
    • Caren
      Caren  •  19 days ago
      wall st investment firms......vulture capitalism.....twit's cronies
    • Incensed-Livid
      Incensed-Livid  •  19 days ago
      When it comes to $$$$, it's Blue Sky.
    • Bill White
      Bill White  •  Saginaw, Michigan  •  19 days ago
      Why have none of the mega banking CEO's ever been brought to trail for their lecherous ways ??
      • Jerry
        Jerry 19 days ago
        If you don't know you don't need to vote in Nov. Haven't you noticed the laws have went back to what they were before 2001? It would open a BIG can of worms and make the Republikklans appear in their natural state and imfluence. So long as the Courts are far right controlled there will be no follower of the GOP ideology being prosecuted or convicted. Are wwe to believe the political powers in office were unaware of the pending financial melt down of 2008? if you believe that you are very naive. It was simply the powers to be helping their wealthy friends get the most they could from the working class people while they had the chance to do so.
      • Darkfinn
        Darkfinn 19 days ago
        Because the banks run the government.
      • Mark
        Mark 19 days ago
        because if you have enough money and enough strings to pull, you can do anything you want. anything.
        apparently, this guy didn't have enough of either.
        i smell a scapegoat.
    • Bull O'Reilly
      Bull O'Reilly  •  20 days ago
      I used to get these calls at the office all the time. I asked them politely not to do it. All but one obliged me. The one, however, continued to call. One afternoon, while trying to meet a deadline, a call slipped through. I again was polite, but when the salesperson/broker told me that I was missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime deal that would make me wealthy beyond my wildest dreams, I asked him why he didn't take advantage of the deal, so he would have to waste his time calling strangers trying to drum up business.

      He went quiet and never called again.
    • DD Sims
      DD Sims  •  20 days ago
      If people call you to invest in their scam ask them why they need your money if they have such a sure thing. Why don't they just use their own money if it's so good?
    • Simba
      Simba  •  19 days ago
      Well....I hope your NEW boyfriend lies to you about being DDF, just so you understand what it is to be lied to.
    • Skins
      Skins  •  Washington, District of Columbia  •  19 days ago
      nice
    • FINALLY
      FINALLY  •  19 days ago
      12 years for stealing $50 million? sounds like a bargain. He will be in club fed anyway, my kids schools are worse than that.
    • lhunglha
      lhunglha  •  Temple, Texas  •  19 days ago
      only meeshel??
    • NickD
      NickD  •  20 days ago
      Is 12 years enough? How long did it take his victims to earn the money he stole from them?
    • lhunglha
      lhunglha  •  Temple, Texas  •  19 days ago
      its OK , he voted for obamy
    • Mark
      Mark  •  19 days ago
      holy cow... someone actually got in trouble for this?
      too bad it'll be white-collar tennis-prison.
      he should have to spend a non-supervised weekend with his investors.
    • James
      James  •  20 days ago
      White-collar criminals always get off with a slap on the wrist.
    • Planet of the Retards
      Planet of the Retards  •  19 days ago
      Just wait until the Banks start harvesting your organs for a loan..It's coming the public is Stupid.
     Post a comment
    [ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
    [ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

    News For You

    Loading...