Las Vegas, Wisconsin men get prison time in international investment scheme

Two men were sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison Wednesday for their roles in a multimillion-dollar investment scheme hatched in Switzerland.

Anthony Brandel, 48, of Las Vegas and James Warras, 69, of Wisconsin also were ordered to serve three years of supervised release after prison.

Senior U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson, who called the scheme a “pie-in-the-sky deal,” said he would make a decision on restitution for both men at a later date.

“This was a serious crime,” Dawson said. “The loss amounts were huge.”

Brandel and Warras, who are in federal custody, were convicted by a jury in December of conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud charges. They were indicted with four others in Las Vegas in December 2013.

One of the other defendants pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison. Another is in custody in Canada awaiting extradition, and the two alleged masterminds of the scheme, who live in Switzerland, are at large.

Prosecutors with the Justice Department’s fraud section in Washington argued at the trial that investors were lured by promises of astronomical returns into contributing $100,000 to $1.2 million to a phony Swiss company, the Malom Group.

Securities and Exchange Commission court filings alleged that Malom, an acronym for “make a lot of money,” bilked 30 investors out of more than $11 million between 2009 and 2011.

Prosecutors said the victims in the criminal case investigated by the FBI lost more than $5 million. The criminal conspiracy lasted until October 2013.

The conspirators deceived investors with false bank statements that showed the Malom Group had hundreds of millions of dollars in European banks, and then tried to cover up their misdeeds after the investors became wise to the scheme, prosecutors alleged.

Brandel ran M.Y. Consultants, a Nevada company that promoted investment opportunities with the Malom Group, and Warras was an officer of the Swiss company.

Defense lawyers argued in court Wednesday that their clients were insignificant players in the scheme and were scammed like the victims by the two fugitive co-defendants — Martin Schlaepfer, Malom’s chief executive, and Hans-Jurg Lips, the company’s financial chief.

But Dawson said the evidence showed that Brandel and Warras played important roles in the scheme to “milk” the unsuspecting investors.

Brandel told Dawson he accepted responsibility for his actions, but Warras, who has cancer, made an emotional plea for leniency.

“I don’t want to die in prison,” a sobbing Warras begged. “I haven’t been a great person in my life, but I’ve been a great father and a great grandfather.”

Warras, who has previous security fraud convictions, said his only goal now is to see and hug his children and grandchildren before he dies.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter