Federal court: Sarasota man found guilty of running $80 million Ponzi scheme

A Sarasota man was found guilty Thursday of committing fraud through a foreign exchange trading scheme.

Michael J. DaCorta, 57, faces a maximum penalty of 33 years for wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and filing a false income tax return.

DaCorta used funds from the "Ponzi-style" scheme to purchase a Maserati and Range Rover for family members, multi-million dollar homes in Florida, flights on private jets, and trips to Europe and the Cayman Islands, federal officials said.

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According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Middle District Court of Florida, from 2011 to 2019 DaCorta ran an investment company called Oasis International Group.

DaCorta and his conspirators used Oasis to swindle 700 victims by persuading them to invest. He told them Oasis was a "market maker" and was making huge margins from foreign currency exchange trades, state officials said.

Yet, Oasis had no true revenue. The company was paying trade earnings from itself to itself to make it look like the company was making money, officials said.

"The online investor portal showed the 'spread' credits but concealed catastrophic underlying trading losses," the release said.

Officials said DaCorta and his conspirators would use victims' investing funds to make "Ponzi-style" payments to keep up the image of a successful investment company. Meanwhile, they used the money to fund lavish lifestyles.

DaCorta then underreported his income in 2017 and received a tax refund.

The FBI and IRS investigated the case. A sentencing date has not been set yet.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota's Michael J. DaCorta faces decades in prison for Ponzi scheme