SALT LAKE CITY — A Heber City man convicted of investment fraud almost a decade ago has admitted in federal court to a new day trading scheme that took investors for more than $10.3 million.
Thomas Robbins, 65, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money laundering in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, admitting he induced people to invest in a fraudulent foreign currency day trading business.
Robbins told investors he had achieved high returns, but had in fact lost millions of dollars and diverted investor money for his personal use and benefit, according to court documents. About 66 people lost money.
“This case presents a classic example of a Utah securities fraudster. Lie upon lie, he created an investment opportunity that drew in dozens of investors who ended up losing more than $10 million to Mr. Robbins, who is a swindler rather than a foreign currency day trader. For all intents and purposes, the money is gone and cannot be recovered for victims,” U.S. Attorney John W. Huber said.
Robbins did not learn his lesson from his past crimes, said Special Agent in Charge Paul Haertel of the Salt Lake City FBI.
“Unfortunately, that’s often the reality in cases like these. Fraudsters are master manipulators and have high rates of recidivism,” he said.
Robbins lied to investors about spending 11 years developing an algorithm for foreign currency trading which allowed him to average returns of 5% to 30% monthly. He also told them that he worked for a bank in Germany in 2005 where he was on contract to help the bank develop algorithms for their traders to use, according to court documents.
He lost nearly all of the investors’ money, used it for personal expenses and generated no significant investment returns, prosecutors said.
Robbins faces up to 20 years in prison for securities fraud and up to 10 years for money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 30.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2011 and ordered to pay $2.4 million in restitution after pleading guilty to conspiracy in another investment fraud scheme.