Investment Manager Indicted on Fraud Charges for Allegedly Swindling Nearly $1 Million from a Retired School Teacher

CHICAGO — An investment manager has been indicted for allegedly swindling nearly $1 million from a retired school teacher.

TYRIS D. MAXEY, the owner of RB Mister Enterprises LLC, a Wyoming company with an office in Chicago, persuaded the retired teacher to give him approximately $950,000 for purported investments, according to an indictment returned in federal court in Chicago. Maxey claimed that his investment firm was highly successful and that he put up his own money in the firm’s investments. In reality, Maxey’s investment activity was minimal, and he spent nearly all of the victim’s money to cover personal expenses, the indictment states. The few real investments that Maxey purchased with the victim’s money sustained heavy losses, the indictment states.

The indictment was returned Aug. 10, 2017, and ordered unsealed after Maxey’s arrest on Monday morning. The indictment charges Maxey, 43, of Chicago, with six counts of wire fraud.

Maxey pleaded not guilty at a Monday afternoon arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney I. Schenkier in Chicago. Maxey was ordered released from custody on a $10,000 appearance bond, and a status hearing was set for Sept. 12, 2017, before U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber.

The indictment was announced by Joel R. Levin, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and E.C. Woodson, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago.

According to the indictment, Maxey fraudulently represented to the victim that RB Mister Enterprises invested in various sectors, including medical marijuana, construction, oil, real estate, sugar and concerts. Maxey attempted to conceal the scheme by returning some of the victim’s money and fraudulently describing it as a positive return on investment, the indictment states. Maxey also furnished the victim and the victim’s accountant with fraudulent account statements that purported to relate to investments.

The fraud scheme alleged in the indictment began no later than January 2010 and continued until at least November 2013.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Each count of the indictment is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Yusef Dale.