Bradenton woman gets prison time after $10 million investment scam, prosecutors say
A Bradenton woman has been sentenced to nine years in prison for wire fraud and money laundering after prosecutors say she spent nearly $10 million on luxury purchases for herself.
Prosecutors say 46-year-old Lori Ann Nademus solicited people to invest in fraudulent high-yield investment programs and then and used those funds to support her own extravagant lifestyle instead of delivering on the agreed-upon terms.
U.S. District Judge James S. Moody sentenced Nademus to nine years and two months in federal prison and also ordered her to forfeit a 1-carat white gold and diamond wedding ring and a stainless steel luxury watch, which were both traceable to proceeds of the fraud scheme, according to a release.
Prosecutors say she was also ordered by the court to forfeit $9.75 million in proceeds related to the wire fraud.
Nademus pleaded guilty on March 17, according to the release.
Between February 2017 and September 2020, prosecutors say Nademus sought out people for her schemes, falsely representing that investor funds would go toward various projects, such as providing clean water to a developing nation, leveraging a gold mine for investment or purchasing a trust in Liechtenstein, a small European country, at a cost exceeding $1 million.
Bradenton woman gets prison after fraud scheme
These projects, Nademus promised, would cause the investors to realize immediate and significant gains and were safe due to the fact that she said they were “secured by millions of dollars of assets,” according to the release.
But prosecutors said Nademus didn’t deliver on her promises.
Instead, they say she used “nearly all of the funds” given by investors for her own international travel, luxury residences and high-end retail purchases of clothing, jewelry and other items “for her own personal enrichment.”
When investors weren’t seeing the results she promised, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Nademus tried to ease their concerns by promising a higher return at a later time in order to “lull them into a false sense of security.”
Prosecutors also said Nademus got the investors to transmit funds mostly through interstate wires to accounts in the names of Dunamis Foundation or Teras Foundation Investments.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
