USA NEWS: U.S. woman sentenced in international fraud case
April 25, 2003 cnn.com
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A 71-year-old woman who ran an international investment scheme that bilked people out of tens of millions of dollars was sentenced Friday to almost 20 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $23 million.
Carolyn Mintus, convicted in August along with a prominent New York socialite, was sentenced to 235 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan federal court.
Mintus, found guilty of 20 money laundering counts and several wire fraud charges, also was ordered to pay more than $7 million to her victims, a $500,000 fine and more than $15 million to the government.
She must also forfeit six vehicles she bought for family members using proceeds from the scheme. Mintus, who lived in Manhattan at the time of the scheme, was extradited from Switzerland in 1999 to stand trial in federal court.
Victims, who lost more than $37 million in 1998 and 1999, lived in the United States as well as in Spain, Germany, Canada, Hong Kong, South Africa and Australia.
Prosecutors said investors were told they were buying notes that allowed them to participate in a secret trading program involving the world's major banks.
The government charged that Mintus ran the fictitious investment program as a classic Ponzi scheme. Cash from investors was used to make small payments to earlier investors, leading people to think the program was successful.
Mintus was convicted with three others including Elizabeth Kummerfeld, 71, a socialite fund-raiser who co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research and founded the Foundation for the Support of the United Nations. Kummerfeld is awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutors said Mintus used some of the profits to support her lavish lifestyle including a $50,000-a-month suite at Manhattan's St. Regis Hotel. Top