U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett handed down John Bullar’s sentence this Monday, giving him “100 months in prison, three years of supervised release, was ordered to forfeit $535,408.68, and was ordered to pay approximately $6.2 million in restitution to the victims” for his role in an $8.7 million Ponzi scheme that Bullar ran for over a decade. Bullar pleaded guilty in September of last year.
Court documents state that between 2003 and 2013, Bullar was in charge of a scheme that eventually generated $8.7 million, with $8.1 million of that going directly to Bullar through “investments” in a business out of Cincinnati called “Executive Management Advisors, LLC” or “EMA.”
False Representations
According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Bullar made multiple false claims about himself and the investments in order to get investors to bite. Some examples include his claim that he never had a losing quarter and that he was EMA’s biggest investor himself.
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Bullar’s Victims
According to court documents, many of Bullar’s targets were his friends, family members, and members at his local church. Sadly, one of the more common fraud tactics is leveraging a position of trust. Many people who lose money through investment fraud or misconduct trusted their financial advisor because he or she was a close friend, family member, or fellow churchgoer.
Court documents also state that Bullar issued false account statements to his investors, which investors used when they filed their tax forms. This means that the investors paid taxes on investment earnings they were not actually making.
Where did the money go?
Bullar allegedly told victims that their funds were pooled in a managed account to trade futures and options on the commodity markets. In reality, only a small fraction of the funds were actually traded. According to court documents, Bullar spent his investors’ money on numerous personal expenses and things to impress his clients, including:
- Purchasing the lot adjoining his already large home
- Remodeling expenses for things like swimming pools and professional landscaping
- Lavish dinners for his investors
- Paying for some of his clients to accompany him on vacations
- Country club dues, and more.
Meyer Wilson helps investors who have lost money through Ponzi schemes and other types of investment fraud and misconduct recover their losses. If you or someone you love has lost money and you believe it was caused by fraud or misconduct, we invite you to contact us today for a free review of your case.
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