Mark Alan Blankespoor, Wire Fraud, Iowa 2019

A Pella, Iowa man has been sentenced to 80 months in prison for his role in a multi-million dollar wire fraud scheme.

Mark Alan Blankespoor, 43, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger on November 1, 2019, for wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum.

According to court documents, Blankespoor was a health coach and consultant in Pella. He represented to others that he was involved in developing medically-oriented gyms and licensed the program to fitness clinics across the United States.

For more than four years, Blankespoor represented to investors that they had an opportunity to make money by investing in the medically-oriented gym concept. At least 100 investors provided Blankespoor with approximately $15 million in investment funds.

Blankespoor admitted that he used the investors' money for unauthorized purposes that were not for the benefit of the affected investors. He used the investor money, unbeknownst to them, for his personal expenses and paying other investors to further the scheme.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this matter. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Blankespoor was ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term. Additionally, he must pay $8,464,103 in restitution to over 100 victims.

Blankespoor pleaded guilty to wire fraud in June of 2019.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdia/pr/pella-man-sentenced-prison-multi-million-dollar-fraud-scheme