THE BLUEPRINT:
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The defendant charged with stealing $600K from investors.
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Allegedly posed as crypto and stock trading expert.
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Spent funds on luxury cars, vacations and designer goods.
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Targeted Haitian community across New York, Florida and Georgia
A former Nassau County resident now living in Florida has been charged with stealing more than $600,000 from investors, and using the money for “lavish trips, luxury vehicles and expensive designer purchases,” officials said.
Marc Henry Menard, formerly of Mineola, was charged on Monday in a 24-count indictment with multiple counts of grand larceny and securities fraud, as well as falsifying business records and scheme to defraud, New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The defendant had allegedly positioned himself as a seasoned trader of stocks and cryptocurrencies who could generate returns as high as 20 percent per month, but he was not registered to offer or sell securities, James said.
“Marc Henry Menard took advantage of Haitian New Yorkers, lied to them about his experience as a successful trader, and swindled hard-working people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” James said in a news release about the charges.
“Menard treated himself to luxury vacations and shopping trips at his victims’ expense, and now we are bringing him to justice. I encourage all New Yorkers to take caution when making investments and report any suspicious offers to my office,” she added.
Menard’s attorney, Nicholas Carra, told Newsday that he was “reviewing the discovery and preparing the best defense for trial.”
Investigators say that from July 2020 through June 2023, Menard allegedly solicited members of the Haitian community to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into his company, Marcotech LLC. He allegedly targeted Haitians in Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, and Queens counties, as well as Florida and Georgia.
Menard then allegedly deposited a portion of investors’ money into his own personal trading accounts. He then allegedly used the funds for risky trading options, including high-risk day trading and options trading, which resulted in losses totaling over $670,000 between July 2021 and October 2022, officials said.
Menard also allegedly used hundreds of thousands of investors’ dollars to repay prior investors and for personal expenditures. He spent over $100,000 on trips to Turkey, Puerto Rico and Disney World, a Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and purchases at luxury retailers such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
Menard allegedly showed investors a falsified ATM receipt showing a bank account balance exceeding $8 million, along with a fabricated trading screen displaying a net account value of over $1 million. That allegedly led investors to believe they were earning substantial profits and continued to invest. Yet, investigators said, between July 2021 and October 2022, the highest recorded value of Menard’s trading account was allegedly only $240,000, and his bank account balance never exceeded $301,000.
On Monday, Menard was released with weekly reporting and required to surrender his passport and not travel outside New York and Florida. If convicted of the top count charged, Menard faces a maximum sentence of up to five to 15 years in prison.
Anyone who may have been a victim of this type of scam can report it to the attorney general’s office by filing a complaint online or calling 1-800-771-7755.
James is urging New Yorkers to take the following steps to avoid investment fraud schemes:
James recommends that New Yorkers take basic steps to avoid becoming the victim of investment fraud schemes. These include:
- In general, do not wire money, send cryptocurrency, or give cash to people you don’t know and haven’t vetted because these transactions are irreversible;
- Be suspicious of individuals you encounter who pressure you to withdraw from retirement accounts (even at a penalty), to borrow money from friends/relatives, or to apply for loans from a bank;
- Beware of individuals who promise you higher profits if you agree to recruit others to invest;
- Never rush into any investment. Be skeptical if the individual insists that you must invest money within a very short time frame, claiming you will lose out on the opportunity;
- Verify that the person offering the investment is properly registered. You can check investment professional registration at FINRA’s BrokerCheck;
- Before investing, consult a trusted legal professional or financial advisor who can advise you if the investment is proper;
- Trust your instincts and think twice before investing. If the investment opportunity seems too good to be true, it probably is; and
- If you suspect fraud, report the individual to law enforcement. Save all communications so that you can provide them to law enforcement if needed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
