LAWFUEL – MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced that CHRISTOPH SCHLUTZREINEKE,
was sentenced today to 188 months’ imprisonment for
orchestrating an investment scam that defrauded more than five
hundred investors, primarily residents of Germany, out of
approximately $28 million. The sentence was imposed by United
States District Judge ROBERT L. CARTER in Manhattan federal
court. SCHLUTZ-REINEKE, 41, pleaded guilty on June 27, 2007 to
one count of conspiracy to commit securities, mail, and wire
fraud, one count of mail fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
According to the documents filed in this case and statements
made during SCHLUTZ-REINEKE’s guilty plea and sentencing:
SCHLUTZ-REINEKE was the owner of Results Securities, Inc.
(“Results”), and Signature Investments, Inc. (“Signature”), which
were investment advisory firms located in Manhattan. At SCHLUTZREINEKE’s
direction, his employees lied to investors to induce
them to purchase securities listed in the United States. The
promised purchases and sales of securities were never executed,
however, and the trade confirmations and account statements
reflecting purchases and sales of securities that were mailed to
the investors by Results and Signature were fabricated. Instead
of investing the investors’ money, CHRISTOPH SCHLUTZ-REINEKE
misappropriated those funds and spent them on a lavish lifestyle,
on secret commissions paid to his employees, and on the
operational expenses of Results and Signature.
Among other
things, SCHLUTZ-REINEKE used investors’ money to pay the rent on
his luxury Manhattan apartment, purchase and extensively renovate
a multi-million dollar home in Water Mill, Long Island, lease
high-end vehicles, pay credit card bills, and pay himself
millions of dollars.
In addition to the prison term, Judge CARTER ordered
SCHLUTZ-REINEKE to serve 3 years’ supervised release, to forfeit
$21 million, and to pay restitution to the victims of his crime
in the amount of $27,497,941.76
On March 25, 2008, Judge CARTER sentenced one of SCHLUTZREINEKE’s
co-defendants, RICHARD J. SISSELMAN, 46, of Park Ridge,
New Jersey, to 51 months’ imprisonment for his role in the
fraudulent scheme. ANDRE VOLKE pleaded guilty on June 6, 2007,
and THOMAS LECH pleaded guilty on June 27, 2007, to charges in
connection with this case and both await sentencing. Codefendant
FRANCESCO COPERTINO, remains at large.
Mr. GARCIA praised the efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service and the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, and thanked the Düsseldorf, Germany,
Department of Public Prosecution for its assistance in the
investigation of this case.
Assistant United States Attorney THOMAS G.A. BROWN and
Special Assistant United States Attorney RHONDA L. JUNG are in
charge of the prosecution.
08-177 ###
