PORTLAND, Maine — A Scarborough man charged with defrauding investors of at least $1.15 million over five years has pleaded guilty to one count of a six-count indictment for wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Philip E. Moriarty, 48, pleaded not guilty in February 2015 to the charges and was released from federal custody on $25,000 cash bail.
According to a plea agreement filed Feb. 16 in U.S. District Court in Illinois, Moriarty changed his plea to guilty on one count, and prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining five counts.
Prosecutors charged that while living in Illinois between May 2008 and June 2013, Moriarty owned and operated First Street Capital Partners LLC, a Delaware company with an office in Chicago, which he presented as a financial services provider; and Teton Acadia Capital Partners LLC, a Wyoming company that owned and operated sporting goods stores in Jackson, Wyoming.
The indictment alleges that Moriarty solicited investors in the two companies using false and fraudulent documentation and provided them with phony stock purchase agreements. He allegedly used those funds to pay for personal expenses, including $42,416 on a personal credit card, about $39,100 to a golf, hunting and fishing club, and about $23,000 to a boarding school in New Hampshire, according to court documents.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys began discussing a plea agreement in June 2015, according to court documents.
Moriarty now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greater. He also will be ordered to pay restitution to victims of the crime, according to court documents.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 21 in Illinois.