A California man admitted defrauding victims in Cumberland County, through a bogus investment scheme, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
According to a statement released by federal authorities, Christopher Glynn, 58, of Burbank, California, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden federal court to a superseding information charging him with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
Officials said Glynn was indicted in August 2019.
After evading law enforcement for nearly a year, Glynn was arrested in Medford, Oregon, and transported to New Jersey for prosecution.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In 2014, Glynn maintained a variety of corporate entities, including U.S. Grant Distribution Group, PG Philanthropic Initiative, Perrarus Global Philanthropic Initiative, and others.
Glynn also claimed affiliation with an international trust that purportedly was funded with billions of dollars.
Relying on the air of legitimacy created by his various entities and the purported international trust, Glynn approached two victims in Vineland. He offered them an opportunity to “invest” hundreds of thousands of dollars in a “business development loan.”
Glynn told the victims that this business development loan would be used for authorized business and legal expenses related to his entities and the international trust.
The loan also would be used for expenses related to an animal welfare charitable foundation and shelter that Glynn was helping the victims to set up.
Glynn assured the victims that the international trust would guarantee their business development loan, the loan would generate specific returns for the victims, and the victims could use the returns to fund their animal welfare charitable foundation and shelter.
As part of his fraudulent scheme, Glynn sent emails and other correspondence and contracts to the victims.
Glynn also arranged for conference calls between himself, his associates, and the victims, including one call that Glynn claimed included “a direct representative from the NSA (National Security Agency), and a representative from either DHS (Department of Homeland Security) or the FBI.”
Glynn took these steps in order to convince the victims that they were investing in a legitimate business opportunity.
Glynn ultimately directed the victims to wire funds to various bank accounts that Glynn controlled in order to fund the “business development loan.”
The victims did so, relying on Glynn’s representations about how the funds would be used.
Instead of using the loan in the manner, he had promised, however, Glynn and his associates misappropriated the victims’ loan money and used it for personal expenses and other expenses that were unrelated to any charitable or business purpose that the victims sought to advance or that Glynn promised to achieve.
The wire fraud count to which Glynn pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The money laundering count to which Glynn pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the value of the property involved in the offense.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 5, 2022.