PALM CITY, Fla. — A Martin County man pleaded guilty Thursday to orchestrating an investment fraud scheme that defrauded more than 10,000 victims of more than $55 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Court documents showed that Michael Glaspie, 72, of Palm City, marketed an investment opportunity under the name "CoinDeal" or "Coin Deal."
Federal prosecutors said that Glaspie claimed that CoinDeal would yield very high returns on the premise that one or more technology companies were about to be acquired by a consortium of wealthy buyers.
To entice investors to put money into CoinDeal, the DOJ said that Glaspie falsely promised that in the event the returns from CoinDeal failed to materialize, he would repay investors their money with 7% annual interest over three years. However, prosecutors said Glaspie knew he had no means of making these repayments.
"For his brazen and repeated lies that defrauded more than 10,000 victims out of more than $55 million, the defendant now justifiably faces a lengthy prison term," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said in a statement.
To support his false repayment promise, the DOJ said Glaspie deceptively claimed that he had an exclusive and lucrative contract with AT&T to distribute government‑funded phones, and that an app that he developed was being distributed by the Better Business Bureau and would yield more than $400 million in revenue when he had no such contract or distribution agreement.
Also, when the promised sale of CoinDeal did not happen, prosecutors said Glaspie transmitted investor funds to an associate after falsely representing to CoinDeal investors that he would not do so.
The DOJ said the Palm City man misappropriated nearly $2.5 million of victim investments for personal purposes, including trading cryptocurrency, paying his employees' salaries and buying a life insurance policy for a family member.
"Investment fraud schemes of any type will not be tolerated. The FBI will continue to do what we have done for over 100 years and investigate those who attempt to defraud unsuspecting Americans of their hard-earned money," Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office said in a statement.
Glaspie pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.