ITHACA, N.Y. — A former Ithaca accountant and another man are being accused of using money from investors to pay off personal debts and make extravagant purchases, according to a news release.
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Bruce Kane, 60, and Burton Greenberg, 75, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a case involving a $10 million investment, United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian said in a news release.
The release says the men began their schemes in 2001 and, until 2013, repeatedly assured investors that their money was safe.
The following is a news release announcing the indictment:
Bruce Kane, 60, a former resident of Ithaca, New York who currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Burton Greenberg, 75, of Plantation, Florida were arrested today in Florida on a Northern District of New York indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and FBI Special Agent In Charge Andrew W. Vale.
As alleged in the Indictment, Bruce Kane is the Managing Partner, Treasurer and Secretary of an investment partnership, Global Financial Fund 8, LLP, that solicited and received over $10 million from investors located throughout the United States, including residents of the Northern District of New York.
The indictment alleges that Burton Greenberg, President/CEO of M&P Global Financial Services, Incorporated, a Florida based corporation, entered into agreements in 2001 with Kane and others to invest the $10 million on behalf of investors.
The indictment further alleges that rather than investing the money in a secure investment as promised, the defendants instead used the funds to pay off personal debts, cover rent on a waterfront condominium, purchase a boat and make separate investments of their own.
According to the indictment, in an effort to avoid detection and allow them to continue to improperly use the investors $10 million, the Defendants sent investors phony “profit” payments in 2004 and 2005 which were in reality a partial return of their principal investment. Further, the indictment alleges that from 2004 to 2013 the Defendants repeatedly assured the investors via e-mail that their investments were secure and profitable when they knew that was not the case.
Burton Greenberg appeared today in federal court in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where he pled not guilty. Bruce Kane is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow. The case will be prosecuted in the Northern District of New York.
If convicted, they face a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years, a maximum fine of $250,000 and a potential forfeiture money judgment of $10 million.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey Brown.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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