Gilbert Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Multi-Million Dollar Investment Fraud Scheme

     PHOENIX – On Aug. 10, 2018, Cory Ryan Williams, 40, of Gilbert, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes to seven years in prison.  A restitution hearing has been scheduled for September, where Williams will be ordered to pay restitution up to $13.5 million.  Williams had previously pleaded guilty to one count of transactional money laundering.

     For over two years, Williams lied to his family, friends, and fellow church members about the profitability of his investment scheme.  He solicited and obtained more than $13 million from over 50 victims.  To entice potential victims, Williams told them he consistently earned a five percent return each week and all investments were safe and would not lose money.  In reality, he lost more than $8 million by attempting to trade stock market futures.  He also concealed his fraudulent scheme by making Ponzi payments to investors - Williams paid earlier investors by using new capital from later investors.  He also diverted more than $800,000 of the victims’ funds to his own personal use.

     The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Andrew C. Stone and Peter Sexton, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.