A Smyrna man was sentenced to two years in federal prison Thursday and ordered to pay back part of the $2.4 million prosecutors said he scammed from investors in a Ponzi scheme.
Thomas Preston O'Berry, 43, persuaded investors to put up money for his software business, MoGo Consulting LLC, by claiming that he had 245 contracts lined up to provide software installment and consulting services. He claimed the services would be provided by independent contractors.
Prosecutors said an unidentified father and son invested a total of $2,480,000 to help O'Berry with a "cash flow problem." What the pair didn't know, however, was that the 245 contracts were nonexistent and the business never had clients.
O'Berry was able to hide the scheme for two years by making partial payments to the investors before the payments stopped. Prosecutors said he used $1 million of the investment for personal gain.
The Smyrna man pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May, when he was convicted in federal court in Atlanta.
O'Berry was ordered to pay $921,761 in restitution and his two-year sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.
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