COLUMBUS, Ohio – Mark F. Speakman, 60, of Grove City, Ohio, is facing a reckoning after admitting to a decade-long scheme that ripped off his clients to the tune of $1.1 million. Speakman pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to one count each of wire fraud, money laundering, and filing a false federal income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, alongside the IRS Criminal Investigation and the Grove City Police Department, announced the guilty plea offered before U.S. Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King. Speakman isn’t just looking at jail time; he’s agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution to the victims he preyed upon.
Court documents paint a picture of a systematic betrayal. From 2000 to 2015, while employed as a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial, Speakman systematically defrauded his clients. He convinced them to pull their money out of legitimate Ameriprise accounts and sink it into Centrax, a completely fabricated real estate investment trust. Instead of investing a dime in property, Speakman pocketed $870,000 from seven victims, using it to fund his own lifestyle. But the deceit didn’t stop there.
When one client demanded his money back from the Centrax scheme in 2014, Speakman found himself in a bind – the funds were long gone. Rather than confess, he dug himself deeper, roping in another client and three of their family members with a bogus investment in gold coins. The purpose? To divert those funds and cover his tracks, essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul, and leaving multiple families financially devastated. In total, Speakman funneled $1,192,450 through his fraudulent operation.
The scheme wasn’t limited to stolen investments. Speakman also attempted to evade taxes on his ill-gotten gains, filing a false 2014 federal income tax return and omitting $275,000 in income. The IRS determined the total tax loss from 2002 through 2014 amounted to approximately $300,000. “This investigation uncovered a complicated investment fraud scheme laced with a web of financial lies that generated more than a million dollars through false promises and deceit,” stated Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.
Speakman now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud, up to 10 years for money laundering, and three years for filing a false tax return. U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman praised the collaborative investigation led by the IRS and the Grove City Police Department, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate spearheading the prosecution. The sentencing date has not yet been set, but for Speakman, the house of cards has finally collapsed.
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Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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