Yesterday it was announced in Illinois that Edward Lynn Moskop was sentenced to the maximum statutory penalties of 240 months in prison for mail fraud and 120 months for money laundering. This 360 month (30 year sentence) sentence is to be served concurrently followed by three years supervised release after. The sentence follows Moskop’s guilty plea to the two count indictment from August and Moskop is ordered to pay $1.49 million in restitution to victims after a twenty year long investment fraud.
During the late 1980’s Moskop, operating as Financial Services Moskop and Associates, Inc., acted as a securities broker for several customers making mutual fund and other investments. In 1990, after a complaint made by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) for misusing funds, Moskop was barred from association with any member of the NASD and was no longer registered to act as a broker in the securities industry.
From 1991 through 2010, Moskop persuaded friends, family and neighbors to become his customers and provide him with funds for investment. Instead of making the investment, he kept the funds for his own use. Moskop created and mailed to his customers fraudulent receipts for investments identified with fraudulent account numbers. Moskop created periodic investment statements showing false interest and gains in the investments. Moskop obtained by fraud from 1991 to 2010 approximately $2,424,000 from twenty-six victims, who included his own relatives, persons referred by trusted friends and attorneys, a local VFW Post, as well as longtime customers of his insurance business.
United States Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton personally addressed the court for the victims and the United States and urged the court to impose the maximum statutory penalty for Moskop’s twenty years of predatory actions, which have caused serious permanent harm to his victims.
U.S. Attorney Wigginton said, “Mr. Moskop is a financial predator. He preyed on hardworking citizens who toiled for years at their jobs in order to save for their retirement. Instead, many of the victims lost everything. Moskop imposed a financial death sentence on many of these victims.” He added, “this conduct is reprehensible and Moskop deserved the lengthy prison sentence imposed by the court” – Source.
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