Investment exec who promised ‘risk-free’ returns of 36%, set to plead guilty in $40M scam
A former executive of a Northern California investment firm has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding about 150 investors, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
A former executive of a Northern California investment firm has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding about 150 investors, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento charged 66-year-old Kenneth Kenitzer of Pleasanton with mail fraud and money laundering in the $40 million scam.
Spokeswoman Mary Wenger said Kenitzer will plead guilty under a plea agreement that could bring him a lighter sentence in return for his cooperation.
Kenitzer’s attorney, Laurel Ligi Headley, said her client “is committed to doing everything possible to assist in recouping losses for the victims.”
Kenitzer was vice president of Equity Investment Management and Trading Inc., which promised investors risk-free, 36 percent annual returns. Prosecutors say he and others withdrew the money and hid the loss.
The firm’s president, Anthony Vassallo of Folsom, faces similar charges plus violations of securities law.
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