Financing Scheme Gets Florida Man 41 Months in Federal Prison

SHREVEPORT, La.: United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Alcides Roman, age 53, of Ocoee, Florida, was sentenced Monday to 41 months in prison and 3 years supervised release for defrauding $340,000 from individuals in Louisiana seeking business loans. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Tom Stagg. Roman was also ordered to pay $340,000 to his victims.

In November 2007, Roman, doing business as Amstar Investment Properties, procured wire transfers of money from two different advanced fee contracts. The first transfer involved a wire transfer of $200,000 by an individual looking for financing on several properties in Alabama and Florida. Roman represented that he could secure financing in the amount of $26 million for an advance fee of $200,000. The individual sent the money as requested but never received the financing or a refund on the fee as promised. The investigation revealed a second set of victims in Texas who also sent money in November of 2007.

Roman pleaded guilty to wire fraud in September 2012. He is to report to the Bureau of Prisons on February 25, 2013.

The case was investigated by the FBI-Shreveport Resident Agency, and was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Joseph G. Jarzabek.