A federal jury in Louisville, Kentucky, has convicted Robert J. Bondonno, a 66-year-old man from Henderson, Nevada, of fraud and money laundering charges.
Bondonno was convicted of five counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to launder money, and 27 counts of promoting money laundering.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty after a seven-day trial on March 9, 2020.
According to the indictment, Bondonno created and distributed investment materials to potential investors containing materially false statements and omissions regarding investment opportunities in the Wichita Project LLC and BHD International, Inc., also referred to as the Phoenix Project.
Bondonno and his co-defendants contacted would-be investors and made false representations about returns on investment and how the investment funds would be used. They claimed the funds would be used for drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in Wichita, Kansas, and Phoenix, Arizona.
However, between 2017 and 2019, Bondonno and his co-conspirators contacted investors to solicit investment funds and split the proceeds between themselves and Bondonno, with no money going toward the stated purpose of the investment.
Bondonno controlled the incoming investment funds through bank accounts he created and controlled. He and his co-conspirators used false names, fraudulent, and misleading investment materials, and made false oral representations to investors in Kentucky, Maryland, and California.
Bondonno brought in more than $519,000 in connection with the investment and spent seventy percent of the funds on himself, with the remaining funds being used to pay co-conspirators through nominee entities and false names.
Bondonno used information associated with actual rehab centers operating in Kansas and Arizona to defraud investors. No money was ever provided to those facilities or paid back to investors.
One of the investor victims was over 95 years old and resided in Kentucky. Bondonno and his co-conspirators convinced the investor and another investor to transfer their individual retirement accounts to his control to invest in the Wichita Project LLC.
Bondonno is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. EDT before United States District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings. Each count of conviction carries up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.
In total, Bondonno faces up to 680 years in prison, a fine of $8,500,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
United States Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky made the announcement. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Louisville Metro Police Department—Crimes Against Seniors Unit.
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Key Facts
- State: Kentucky
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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