A Broward County man who portrayed himself as an experienced international financial advisor has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in a Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 150 investors of a combined $94 million.
Andrew Hamilton Jacobus, 64, of Fort Lauderdale, began his career in financing in the 1990s, which included founding two companies, Finser International Corporation and Kronus Financial Corporation, that he used in the scheme, federal prosecutors said in a news release Thursday.
Over a decades-long period, Jacobus managed legitimate investment portfolios while misappropriating the money for his own use and to pay back earlier investors as if the payments were their returns, according to prosecutors.
Through his companies, he purported to appropriate funds to “various lucrative investments,” including Certificates of Deposit and shares of companies, for well above market averages, according to a factual proffer, the facts of the case agreed on by the defense and government.
He gave investors information booklets and presentations that included above average rates of return on the fund since 2012 and used some of the investors’ money to pay back others, the factual proffer said. He also managed investors already existing accounts and used some of the money for himself or to pay back other clients.
Jacobus pleaded guilty in November and received his sentence Monday, the maximum possible sentence. At his sentencing hearing, 100 victims appeared either in person in court or remotely, prosecutors said. Some victims were in South Florida while others were in Venezuela and Spain.
Some of the 150 victims whose combined investments totaled more than $90 million were lawyers, doctors, members of the Venezuelan Archdiocese, former employees and some of his own relatives.
