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LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for
the Southern District of New York, JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the
Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), PATRICIA J. HAYNES, the
Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal
Inspection Division (“IRS-CID”), and RONALD J. VERROCHIO, the
Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Office of the United States
Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), announced that CLYDE “PETER”
HALL, 70, of Manhattan, pleaded guilty this morning to charges
arising out of a scheme in which HALL peddled bogus bank
instruments and claimed to have access to high yield investment
programs in order to defraud investors of millions of dollars.
On what was scheduled to be the first day of his trial, HALL
pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court before United
States District Judge RICHARD J. SULLIVAN to one count of
conspiring to commit wire fraud and five counts of substantive
wire fraud.
According to the Indictment to which HALL pleaded
guilty, documents filed in connection with this case, and
statements made in court:
HALL, who decades ago played football for the New York
Giants, held himself out as the “representative” or “attorney in
fact” of two purported business trusts — Gramercy International
Investment Trust and American Swiss Trust. HALL told his victims
that in exchange for up front or advance fees he could obtain for
them letters of credit, bank guarantees, or other bank
instruments worth hundreds of millions of dollars which could be
used as collateral for loans or to fund trading in high yield
investment programs that would generate phenomenal returns.
Among HALL’s claims to victims were that he had successfully done
so for other clients for over a decade; that advance fees would
be held in escrow and were completely refundable if the promised
bank instruments were not delivered; and that he would be paid
from money purportedly generated by loans or investments made
using the bank instruments as collateral, rather than from the
advance fees.
However, after victims had wire transferred their
purportedly refundable advance fees to various accounts
controlled by HALL, HALL would either fail to provide the
promised bank instruments, or provided bogus documents that he
received from co-conspirators and that were worthless as
collateral. HALL lulled his victims by, among other things,
repeatedly telling them the promised bank instruments would be
delivered imminently, or that they had been delivered. (A search
of HALL’s apartment conducted at the time of his arrest turned up
dozens of fake bank letters of credit or bank guarantees on paper
bearing the logos of well-known international banks, including
UBS AG, ABN-AMRO, Citibank, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, Bank of
America, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.) When victims
complained that they could not access the bank instruments that
had supposedly been delivered, HALL and at least one of his coconspirators would engage in an elaborate charade to “help” the
victim investors “find” the bank instruments. HALL in fact used
the advance fees to pay personal and family expenses, and for the
benefit of his co-conspirators.
On the conspiracy to commit wire fraud count to which
HALL pleaded guilty, he faces a maximum potential penalty of 20
years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or
loss derived from the offense. On each of the five counts of
wire fraud to which HALL pleaded guilty, he faces a maximum
potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or
twice the gross gain or loss derived from the offense. The total
maximum term of imprisonment is therefore 120 years.
Judge SULLIVAN remanded HALL to prison following his
guilty plea, and scheduled sentencing for August 7, 2009 at 10:00
a.m.
Mr. DASSIN thanked the FBI, the IRS-CID, and USPIS for
their assistance in this investigation.
This prosecution is being handled by the Major Crimes
Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office. Assistant United
States Attorneys THOMAS G. A. BROWN and STEPHEN J. RITCHIN are in
charge of the prosecution.
09-098 ###
