A metro Atlanta investment adviser who defrauded investors of more than $6.9 million was sentenced Monday to seven years and three months in federal prison.
Benjamin Daniel DeHaan, a 37-year-old Decatur resident who owned Lighthouse Financial Partners LLC, also was ordered to repay the money to more than 50 investors he defrauded.
DeHaan was immediately taken into custody after his sentence was announced in U.S. District Court.
From January 2010 to May 2012, prosecutors said DeHaan misappropriated the funds and e-mailed fraudulent account statements to hide his actions. He used the money to buy a new home in Memphis and invest in a restaurant and bar in the Tennessee city.
Prosecutors said DeHaan also used the money to open of an investment account of his own and to pay bills at Lighthouse Financial.
He attracted investors by posting videos on the company’s website and on YouTube, prosecutors said. In the videos, DeHaan told potential investors he had developed a proprietary software program that allowed him to determine when to buy and when to sell a particular stock.
“This defendant may have started out as a legitimate investment adviser, but he got greedy and began stealing from those who trusted him with their investments,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement.
The former investment adviser pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in February. DeHaan will serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
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