Local Insurance Agent Sentenced to 60 Months for Fraud

Memphis, TN – A local man has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for fraud. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced the sentence today.

Following a four-day jury trial in federal court in August 2018, Manzur Mazumder, 50, was convicted on two counts of wire fraud. Manzur Mazumder, an insurance agent, started a hedge fund business, which defrauded several individuals of their retirement savings. Between 2014 and 2017, Mazumder obtained a total of $360,000 from "M.T.," a resident in Hawaii, "J.T.," a resident of Missouri and "A.J.," a resident of Memphis.

According to information presented in court, Mazumder used a large portion of the investor’s fund to pay for personal expenses, including living and travel expenses, a down payment on a condominium, loan payments, debit card charges and overdrafts in several bank accounts. Mazumder day-traded the rest of the investors’ funds in options contracts, resulting in large losses. He returned nominal sums to the victims.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "Fraudulent schemes that steal hard-earned retirement savings from innocent victims represent the very worst betrayals of trust in our financial markets, and such dishonesty will be exposed. We are pleased that justice has been achieved on behalf of the victims, and we commend the FBI for their outstanding investigation in this disturbing case. Wherever fraud occurs in the Western District of Tennessee, this office will be prepared to hold offenders accountable."

On April 9, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr., sentenced Mazumder to 60 months imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay $341,960 restitution to the victims.

The case was investigated by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean DeCandia and David Pritchard prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.