FLORIDA MAN INDICTED IN $20 MILLION PONZI SCHEME THAT TARGETED PENNSYLVANIA INVESTORS

Dennis Pfannenschmidt, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced today that Sean N. Healy, 38, of Weston, Florida, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a 55 count Indictment charging multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The Indictment was unsealed today after Healy appeared before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for his arraignment. Healy was released after posting real estate to ensure his future appearances as required by the court.

The Indictment alleges that Healy defrauded over fifty investors throughout the United States, including approximately forty investors who reside in and around Chambersburg and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania of nearly $20 million by promising investors that he would use their money to purchase stocks and commodities on their behalf. Instead of investing the money as promised, the Indictment alleges that Healy spent the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, which included the purchase of a $2.4 million waterfront mansion, furnished with over $2 million of home improvements, $1.5 million in men’s and women’s jewelry, numerous exotic vehicles and sport cars, including a Bentley and several Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches worth over $2.3 million.

The grand jury investigation commenced in March 2009, when one of the defrauded investors from Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against Healy and his wife in federal district court in the Southern District of Florida claiming that he and other Pennsylvania investors lost $14.6 million between April 2008 and February 2009. Healy is also alleged to have obstructed the grand jury’s investigation by providing phony bank statements and phony trading records, indicating that the Pennsylvania investor’s money was used for legitimate trading activity in stocks and commodities. When the authentic records were obtained, they revealed that Healy had simply spent the money on his extravagant lifestyle and used some of it to pay back earlier investors who he defrauded between 2003 and 2008.

On July 14, 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil lawsuit against Healy which is currently pending in federal district court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In connection with that lawsuit, that court issued a preliminary injunction, ordered an asset freeze and appointed a receiver to oversee the assets traceable to the fraud. Healy’s mansion, jewelry and vehicles have been seized by the receiver and the proceeds of the sale of those items will be distributed to the victims upon the completion of that litigation. The current Indictment seeks the forfeiture of any of Healy’s remaining assets which are traceable to the fraud.

The criminal case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is assigned to Senior Litigation Counsel Bruce Brandler for prosecution. The U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania appreciates the assistance of the SEC and CFTC in the investigation of this matter.

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An Indictment or Information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Grand Jury and/or United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant has pled guilty to the charges.