Members of Honolulu Investment Group Sentenced for Defrauding Investors

HONOLULU, HI—SYED QADRI , age 39, RUBEN CARRILLO GONZALEZ, age 50, and JEFFREY GREENHUT, age 40, were sentenced yesterday to 51 months, 41 months, and 24 months in prison, respectively, by United States District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi, after their wire fraud convictions arising from their roles in connection with a scheme to defraud investors through two Honolulu based companies, Amasse Capital LLC (“Amasse”) and Solomon & Co. LLC (“Solomon”) from approximately January to September 2006. Each defendant was also ordered to pay restitution to victims of the scheme. PATRICIA ROSZKOWSKI, age 48, wife of QADRI, received a one-month prison sentence from Judge Kobayashi yesterday for filing a fraudulent application with a local bank for a line of credit on behalf of Solomon.

Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to information produced in court, Amasse and Solomon purportedly invested in high yield bonds, with minimal risk to the investor’s principal, when, in reality, investments were used to pay back earlier investors, with the remainder of the funds being converted to QADRI’s own use in what amounted to a Ponzi scheme. Other information reflected that QADRI, president and chief executive officer of Amasse, had a leadership role in the fraud scheme; GONZALEZ, Amasse’s senior vice president of marketing, had a role soliciting investors; and GREENHUT, Amasse’s chief operating officer, managed investor funds.

According to the court documents, Amasse was marketed as an investment firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The prospectus for Amasse listed the defendants as management and members of the board of directors. The prospectus made materially false claims about the experience and background of the defendants in order to induce investment. In addition, it contained materially false statements about the business activity, capability, and financial stability of Amasse. During the scheme, QADRI and GONZALEZ claimed that the companies could return up to 100 to 400 percent per month on investments. Between Amasse and Solomon, the net loss to victims as a result of this scheme was in excess of $1.6 million.

According to court documents, during the scheme, Qadri and Roszkowski lived in a luxurious Kahala residence, purchased several expensive exotic cars, and leased an entire floor in a downtown office building.

The criminal case resulted from a joint investigative effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Chris Thomas and Ronald Johnson.