Former Anchorage Man, Donald Lee Smith, Pleads Guilty to Swindling Investors Out of $311K
Donald Lee Smith, of Muldrow, Oklahoma, pled guilty this week to swindling Alaskan investors out of approximately $311,000 in an investment fraud scheme. He also admitted to making intentionally false misrepresentations to his victims and of using a substantial portion of their investment funds to gamble in casinos. (Investors had been told that their funds would go toward investments in property.)
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, Smith started the investment scheme in 2007 while he was living in the state. The scam ran to 2008. At some point during that time, Smith moved to Oklahoma and misappropriated the investors’ funds. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Dec. 2011 and charged with 12 counts of fraud and one count of money laundering.
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Of the charges brought against him, Smith pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Under sentencing guidelines, he could face decades in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 12, though Senior United States District Court Judge H. Russell Holland may extend the date in order for Smith to begin making restitution to his victims.
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