2 Utah County males sentenced to federal jail in $18M funding fraud scheme

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FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — 4 males, together with two from Utah, have been sentenced for his or her roles in what prosecutors say was an $18 million world funding fraud scheme.

Kevin Griffith, 68, of Orem, was sentenced final week to 12½ years in federal jail, whereas Alexander Ituma, 57, of Lehi was sentenced to only over eight years in jail. The opposite two males, John C. Nock, 55, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, was sentenced to just about 21 years in jail, and Brian Brittsan, 67, of Boise, was sentenced to 10 years.

The 4 males engaged in an funding fraud scheme via an entity referred to as “the Brittingham Group,” which Nock based.

“Collectively, the 4 defendants falsely represented the character of their funding choices and promised outsize returns to victims that, in actuality, the defendants couldn’t and didn’t produce. To advertise and conceal the conspiracy, Nock and Brittsan directed victims to ship their cash to financial institution accounts that Griffith, Ituma, and different co-conspirators managed. As soon as the cash was within the palms of the co-conspirators, the defendants transferred sufferer cash via a posh net of worldwide financial institution accounts,” in response to a press release from the U.S. Justice Division.

The lads have been convicted in September by a federal jury in Arkansas.

Beginning in 2013, Nock and Brittsan “promised massive returns in a brief time frame, as a lot as 200% or 300% inside 20 to 30 days. Additionally they assured the security of the victims’ principal funds, usually via fraudulent letters on third-party letterhead, together with the letterhead of economic establishments,” in response to the fees.

“For practically a decade, the defendants overtly and repeatedly lied to buyers, defrauding them out of greater than $18 million and laundering the proceeds of their crime via a posh net of financial institution accounts around the globe,” deputy assistant lawyer common Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Division’s Legal Division, stated in a press release.

“The victims on this case have been promised profitable funding alternatives, however what they received was a conspiracy of lies and fraud,” stated Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI’s Legal Investigative Division.

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