Georgia Man Pleads Guilty To Securities Fraud

CINCINNATI – Charles H. Sheehan III a/k/a/ “Duke Sheehan”, 69, of Cumming, Ga. pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of securities fraud.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Kevin R. Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Division, announced the plea entered today before Judge Timothy S. Black.

According to court documents, Sheehan represented himself to be the President and CEO of a purported charity called the Southern Foundation for the Advancement of Arts and Education, Inc., based in Georgia.  Sheehan promised a Cincinnati-based real estate development group that he would invest $1 million from the group along with funds from the Southern Foundation in a series of purported investments.  However, rather than investing the $1 million that had been wired to the defendant, Sheehan distributed the funds to himself and others.

Sheehan pleaded guilty to defrauding investors with respect to the Southern Foundation and the use of the investor funds.  He has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $1 million. 

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the investigation by the FBI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Mangan, who is representing the United States in this case.