Clive's former insurance agent sentenced to prison for financial fraud

A Clive man is sentenced to 19 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud.

Prosecutors say Zachary Flaherty preyed on older Iowans by befriending them, gaining their trust and then bilking more than 30 people out of their savings.

Prosecutors say Flaherty inserted himself into his victims' lives, helping them with household chores, even referring to some victims as “Mom” and “Dad,” while also encouraging his victims to write him checks or one of his companies. US prosecutors say he would promise his victims that he would invest the funds on their behalf. They claim the victims trusted Flaherty's statements and wrote him numerous checks, but Flaherty did not invest the funds in his victims' names as he said he would. He is said to have spent this money on himself, his family and his businesses.

Investigators say after initially being charged with federal crimes, he continued to break the law. They called Flaherty “a fraudster who will break any rule and lie. The defendant has demonstrated an unwillingness to comply with the rules that apply to him.”

Upon his pretrial release, prosecutors say he was ordered not to sell his home, which still has a for sale sign in the yard. They also claim Flaherty has failed to repay any of the loans on his boats or vehicles, which are now at risk of foreclosure.

Flaherty's wife, Jessica Flaherty, also faces a criminal contempt charge.

Investigators accuse her of trying to sell some of her husband's guitars while he was in prison. They say it violates a court order that prohibits anything that could depreciate the value of their property and its potential use to pay restitution.

During Flaherty's sentencing, prosecutors asked the judge to give him as much prison time as possible, saying he showed no signs of remorse.

They presented a phone conversation Flaherty had with his wife from prison, during which Flaherty said, “Did I take the money?” Well, yes, I took the money. Did I win the money? I probably took less than I should have.

KCCI contacted some of Flaherty's victims.

Many of them told us they were happy to put this behind him, but were still unhappy that they no longer spent all their savings.

In addition to his prison sentence, Flaherty was ordered to pay $2.4 million in restitution, but prosecutors say the victims will only get back pennies for what they lost.

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