Long Island Man Pleads Guilty To Foreign Currency Fraud Scheme

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – Earlier today, Daniel Winston LaMarco pleaded guilty to a felony information charging him with wire fraud and commodities fraud causing losses of more than $862,000 to 13 investors.  Today’s plea took place before United States Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown at the United States Courthouse in Central Islip, New York.  When sentenced, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment. 

Today’s guilty plea was announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

“LaMarco misled investors regarding his investment performance on a monthly basis for years and encouraged them to invest their money in risky and volatile markets,” stated United States Attorney Capers.  “The message of this prosecution is clear – if you defraud investors for personal gain you will be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”  Mr. Capers thanked the criminal investigators in the United States Attorney’s Office for their excellent work on this investigation.

Beginning in or about January 2011, LaMarco began to solicit investors to fund a commodity pool he ran which invested in the Foreign Exchange Market.  LaMarco made false claims regarding his investment performance, and touted the safety of his investment strategy.  Among his victims, LaMarco encouraged two individuals to invest proceeds from a home equity loan with him.  As part of his fraud scheme, LaMarco sent false monthly statements to investors representing that their investments were growing, inducing new investments from the investors, and discouraging them from withdrawing their investments with him.  The monthly statements claimed the investments had more than doubled in value and were worth as much as $1,796,126.22.  In truth, LaMarco had lost almost all of the investors’ money, which totaled more than $862,000, in the Foreign Exchange Market. 

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher A. Ott and Mark Bini are in charge of the prosecution. 

This prosecution was the result of efforts by President Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.  With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.  Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations.  Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants.  For more information on the task force, visit http://www.StopFraud.gov.

The Defendant:

DANIEL WINSTON LAMARCO
Age:  51
Huntington, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-433 (ADS)