St. Augustine Man Pleads Guilty in Ponzi Scheme

8:17 PM, Feb 12, 2012   |    comments
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ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A St. Augustine man has pleaded guilty in a Ponzi scheme.

Gary Martin entered the plea in a money laundering conspiracy connected to a $32.5M scheme.

60-year-old Martin formed Queen Shoals Consultants in 2007 and convinced victims to invest millions of dollars with the firm, which prosecutors say was a Ponzi scheme operated by Sidney Hanson.

Hanson never directly told Martin that Queen Shoals was a Ponzi scheme, but prosecutors say Martin induced victims to invest through a series of false statements and fraudulent representations.

Martin got nearly $2M from Hanson, who was sentenced in March to 22 years in prison.

Martin faces up to ten years in prison.