KELOWNA — A Kelowna man and his American partner in crime are spending several years behind bars after executing a ponzi style scheme and defrauding millions out of investors.
Randi Bochinski is a Kelowna resident and according to court documents obtained by Global Okanagan, the 46-year-old made a plea agreement with U.S. officials in May of this year, pleading guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
On Friday he and his 78-year-old partner Alan Gilner from Florida were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston.
The fraud goes back to 2005 when the two devised a scheme promising investors significant returns, up to 1,000 per cent, in a short period of time.
But once the pair got the money, they would redirect the funds for other purposes, including for their own personal use.
To get investors to believe it was working, they often made at least some of the promised “return” payments, using other investor money to fund the returns.
The IRS and U.S. Postal Inspection Service began investigating and Bochinski was eventually arrested in Canada earlier this year.
Bochinski will serve six years behind bars, while Gilner will get seven.
Both have been ordered to repay more than 5-million dollars each to the scam victims.
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