U.S. Department of Justice Marcos Daniel Jiménez United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
	99 N.E. 4th Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001

ACCOUNTANT SENTENCED TO 37-MONTH PRISON
TERM FOR MAIL FRAUD AND TAX EVASION

Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Brian J. Wimpling, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; Michael S. Clemens, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and James K. Belz, Postal Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service, announced today that on August 20, 2004, defendant, Thomas Sewell, a certified public accountant, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James I. Cohn in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to a term of thirty-seven (37) months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three (3) years’s supervised release, for Sewell’s convictions for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States, Code, Sections 371, 1341, and 1346, and for filing false tax returns, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1). Sewell, who previously pleaded guilty to the referenced charges, was ordered to pay restitution in excess of $7 million to the victims.

As alleged in the Information, Sewell was charged in connection with his participation in an investment fraud scheme, as a result of which investors lost over $7 million. The Information alleged that Myles Farrington formed an offshore corporation in 1991 called Landmark Investment Trust (“Landmark”) from which he offered “investment units” at $40,000 each. Farrington represented to investors that the fund would be expertly managed and invest in mutual funds and other safe investments. Approximately one hundred (100) investors from South Florida, including the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, a church group, some small businesses, and elderly and retired persons, invested approximately $9.5 million in the fund. Over the years, Landmark provided the investors with quarterly statements that purported to showed that their investments were doing well. As alleged in the Information, however, these statements were fictitious, and Farrington was using the victims’ investments for his personal benefit and for speculative investments.

Sewell associated himself with the scheme by recruiting investors from among his accounting practice clientele. Sewell falsely advised his clients that their investments would be safe and that he was personally monitoring the funds. Significantly, Sewell failed to advise his clients that he was receiving commissions from Farrington on the investments that he brought in. Moreover, Sewell failed to disclose on his 1997 and 1998 federal income tax returns that he had received additional income of more than $140,000 from his participation in the scheme.

Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger H. Stefin.