Swindler gets 22 years in prison, bilked victims of $10M

March 13, 2015 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch. AP file photo

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A man who bilked 300 investors of $10 million has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison.

Prosecutors say William Lange spent the money on a lavish lifestyle. It included $115,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles and a $2,300 stay at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

According to The New York Times, Brooklyn federal court Judge Dora Irizarry described Lange as “opportunistic” as she handed down the sentence on Thursday.

Lange pleaded guilty last fall to operating two schemes between 2007 and 2011 that swindled nearly 300 investors. Prosecutors say he defrauded homeowners and builders hit by Hurricane Katrina and in an Alaskan gold-mining operation in the amount of $10 million thorough advance fee and investment schemes. As part of the sentence, Lange was also sentenced to 3 years’ supervised release.

“William Lange was a con man who stole more than $9 million from people looking to rebuild areas of the country that had been ravaged by the destructive force of Hurricane Katrina,” Loretta G. Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, said in a released statement. “He enticed his victims by promising financing through the use of loan documents and escrow agreements that were not worth the price of the paper used to print them.”

Lange involved his brother-in-law and son in the schemes. A jury last year found them guilty of fraud.

-The Associated Press; Information from The New York Times and the United States Attorney for the Eastern District