"Patrick Gallagher, 44, of Middleborough, Massachusetts, and Michael Dion, 49, of Orlando, Florida, devised a scheme in which they would solicit victims to invest in their foreign exchange company, Global Forex Management, by promising them large returns based on previous trading results that they had fabricated," the Justice Department said in a press release.
Gallagher and Dion told the victims that their funds would be traded using an online trading platform provided by a co-conspirator’s company, IB Capital, but were working with other co-conspirators in the Netherlands to steal the victim investors’ money, the release said.
In May 2012, Gallagher and Dion executed their plan by purposely creating massive trading losses for the investors and stole $30 million from their victims, the release also said.
The two then directed the stolen money through a number of shell companies they had set up overseas, the release added.
Both men pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and each face a maximum of five years in prison, according to the release.