Man Pleads Guilty to $4.5-Million Scam
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An Oxnard financial adviser admitted Wednesday to bilking a credit-card company, his family and friends out of more than $4.5 million in a series of complex schemes.
Wayne N. Fleischer, 50, pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of grand theft, forgery and tax evasion. He could receive up to 16 years in prison when sentenced next month.
He and partner John J. Haggerty were accused of falsifying credit information on their clients’ application to American Express. The two would then charge larger and larger amounts of cash to the accounts to pay off other clients who invested in a fraudulent insurance scam, prosecutors said.
Some card holders, including Fleischer’s mother and stepfather, suffered losses. But American Express was the biggest loser in the scam, prosecutors said.
Haggerty is scheduled to be sentenced in November.
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