A Fort Lauderdale attorney has been convicted of participating in a scheme to defraud thousands of victims who invested in the viatical and life settlement company Mutual Benefits Corp. (MBC).
Anthony Livoti, Jr., 55, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and mail fraud in connection with the $1.25 billion MBC fraud. Livoti, who was MBC’s premium trustee and the designated trustee of thousands of insurance policies sold by MBC, was convicted after a nearly three-month trial before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola.
The evidence presented at trial showed that from approximately 1994 to May 2004, MBC purchased life insurance policies from the elderly, as well as persons suffering from AIDS and chronically ill. MBC then sold fractionalized interests in insurance policy death benefits, known as viatical settlements, to approximately 30,000 investor-victims.
Livoti assisted MBC with the marketing of its fraudulent investment by meeting with investors in his Fort Lauderdale law office and encouraging them to purchase MBC investments. Witnesses testified that new investor money was regularly used to pay premiums on life insurance policies purchased by earlier investors and to pay investors who requested their money back.
As the fraud continued, eventually investor money was required to prevent the MBC Ponzi from collapsing. Ultimately, investors lost more than $750 million. Livoti is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Scola on February 21, 2014, at 8:30 a.m.
Co-defendants Steven Steiner and Joel Steinger, who were also founding principals of MBC, are set to face trial in connection with the same scheme. Steiner has already pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering and obstruction of justice related to the use and concealment of more than $15 million dollars in proceeds derived from the MBC fraud.
Michael McNerney, another co-defendant, pled guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the MBC fraud.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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