Georgia woman accused of defrauding Washington County investors out of $900,000 sentenced to federal prison – St George News

ST. GEORGE – A Georgia woman will spend time in federal prison after a yearlong FBI investigation revealed she defrauded more than a dozen victims in Washington County in a scheme that extended beyond Utah and the United States.

The defendant, Stephanie Nicole Summers, 54, of Duluth, Georgia, appeared before U.S. District Judge David Nuffer for sentencing on one count each of wire fraud and securities fraud, while the four other counts of wire fraud and securities fraud were dismissed under the plea agreement. .

Summers was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for schemes the defendant admitted to during a March plea hearing involving multiple victims across the country, including more than a dozen in South Florida. 'Utah.

“MS. Summers defrauded the citizens of Utah and people across the country out of nearly a million dollars for her own personal gain. She lied to victims and abused their trust to take their hard-earned money” , U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins of the District of Utah said in a statement released Wednesday.

The diagram

The indictment was filed as part of a scheme that began as early as May 2016 and continued until at least February 2022 in Utah and elsewhere. Federal prosecutors say Summers promised victims she could help finance their business ventures, but directed her clients to make their own investments in the ventures by sending money to various bank accounts she controlled .

The defendant allegedly used these funds to pay personal expenses and make cash withdrawals and transfers to other companies she controlled. She also embezzled money to pay for other business expenses, instead of using the victim's money as promised.

Summers persuaded victims to invest in her companies by promising high returns, federal prosecutors say, telling investors she was a successful international businesswoman who controlled more than 20 entities in the United States and abroad. of the.

She made false claims about how the funds would be used, as well as fraudulent credentials to gain their trust.

Fraud, wire transfers and schemes in Utah

In 2016, Summers told investors it could secure more than $47 million in financing for a project in Toquerville, Utah. In another case, she told a victim she could get $25 million in funding for a tech startup, according to the indictment.

In both cases, she told clients they had to make their own initial investment in each of the projects by sending funds to bank accounts she controlled. Federal prosecutors alleged that Summers told victims of the Washington County projects that their funds would be held up until all other funding was in place to cover the project's costs.

She also claimed to have helped develop a hotel in Panama City, Panama, but failed to tell them that she had used the project in Panama to defraud another victim.

In another case, she promised an investor a 20% return on his investment and encouraged him to reinvest any profit in another investment opportunity, claiming that she and her companies held assets worth “hundreds of dollars.” million dollars,” the indictment states.

In each case, federal prosecutors say, Summers failed to tell investors that she was using their money for personal expenses or that she was transferring the funds to other entities she controlled instead of using their money for agreed purposes without their knowledge or consent.

The fraud also involved four wire transfers totaling more than $570,00 made by the defendant through Washington County bank branches.

A year-long journey from indictment to conviction

Summers was indicted on March 23, 2023, and pleaded not guilty to the federal charges during an arraignment hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Kohler in St. George a month later.

From there, the case was set for a one-week trial starting July 19, 2022, which continued through November. The case was then scheduled for three different trial dates in 2023, from March to October. Two months later, federal prosecutors became aware of a scheme in which the defendant, who was on pretrial release, was allegedly involved and which ultimately resulted in her release being revoked.

The broker's letter to the FBI

Summers was arrested and taken into federal custody in Georgia in December after a broker contacted to report that Summers and several co-conspirators had attempted to purchase a number of hotels and clubs in Florida, including one valued at 5 million dollars. The declarant told agents that Summers made several statements to the sellers, including that she came from a wealthy family that owned various properties, as well as a holding company that managed several trust accounts, including one that held 15 million dollars in cryptocurrency.

During the procedure, the defendants requested access to the club's accounting system. Once granted, Summers and a co-defendant attempted to remove $8,000 in bar and club expenses they had accrued in the process — costs that were ultimately never reimbursed. The defendants also requested access to the commercial office, files and safe under the guise of assessing the club's cash flow and profitability.

Once access was granted, the defendants allegedly removed more than $67,000 in cash from the safe – an incident that was caught on video. The money was never returned to the company.

Once the broker became aware of the active federal case, he notified the sellers and all negotiations with the defendants ended, so the sale never occurred. But between the stolen money and unpaid expenses from the bar and club, officers learned the loss to the owners was more than $75,000.

FBI agents also had access to a letter implying the defendants' intention to purchase a building for $125 million from the same broke man. However, the sale never took place after the active fraud case was discovered. Shortly thereafter, federal prosecutors became aware of Summers' involvement in the alleged schemes in Florida while she was on pretrial release and she was arrested and taken into federal custody in Georgia while the case was brought before the courts.

Plea and Sentencing Factors

The defendant pleaded guilty to the two federal charges in March and the case was set for a sentencing hearing held Wednesday in St. George.

Before being sentenced, the defendant admitted to allegations contained in the indictment, including assertions that her company, Summers Companies, Inc., successfully operated businesses in various industries in several countries, including holdings in the United States. She also admitted to investing $275,000 in the Toquerville resort project, telling victims they had the option of converting those funds into shares worth more than $1.3 million.

In another southern Utah case, Summers admitted to taking $230,000 from the victim through fraudulent means.

Assistant United States Attorney Stephen P. Dent, one of the federal prosecutors assigned to the case, filed a sentencing memorandum saying Summers posed as an international business owner who had ownership interests in several sectors “from real estate to oil and gas to aviation”. A plan that left victims from Alaska to Utah to New York, adding that in Utah alone it left 14 victims.

As the The granddaughter of an oil tycoon and the daughter of a psychiatrist who earned a college degree and gained business experience, Dent said, she had the ability and opportunity to make an honest living. Instead, since at least 2016, the defendant used her business and communication skills to deceive others and take their money.

Still, Dent said any sentence should have a deterrent effect, which is particularly important in this case, given the defendant's years-long fraud and her behavior upon pretrial release — all of which is an indication of the accused's “propensity to defraud”.

The defendant's continued scheming even after her indictment was also mentioned by Higgins who said in the release: “Summers' repeated criminal behavior shows a complete lack of respect for the law and the people she was victimized by.” »

At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge ordered that once the defendant completes her prison sentence, she will be placed under post-prison supervision for three years. She was also ordered to pay more than $904,600 in restitution.

A cautionary tale

The months-long investigation was led by FBI Special Agent Shohini Sinha, who wrote that “fraudsters like Summers are expert manipulators motivated by greed.”

The agent added that the FBI will investigate those who defraud others for personal gain, adding that this case serves as a reminder that diligence is essential when an investment opportunity presents itself, especially when it involves a high rate of return .

The case was investigated by the FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dent and Christopher Burton, both of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah .

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other stakeholders and may not contain the complete findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law or otherwise determined by a finder of fact.

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