CLEVELAND — An Orville man was sentenced to just under 10 and a half years (125 months) by U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent after he pled guilty to several fraud charges.
According to court documents, 60-year-old Thomas Brenner worked as a financial broker-dealer and President of First American Securities, Inc. In March of 2015, Brenner began to recruit investors to a company, United RL Captial Services, LLC (URL), that would finance medical laboratory developments.
Brenner promised investors that the money given to the company would be used to finance medical laboratory developments. After a three-year period, investors were promised their money back, with interest. He also made assurances to investors that their investments were "safer than other existing investments."
After taking investment money from several investors, it was found that Brenner used the funds not for what was promised, but to purchase a race car and to pay back his own tax debts.
While Brenner used the funds for his own personal means, he continued to assure investors that their money was safe.
Brenner pled guilty to the following charges:
- Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud
- Conspiracy to commit securities fraud
- Mail fraud
- Wire fraud
- Securities fraud
- Engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from criminal activity
Brenner was ordered by Judge Nugent to pay $3,487,938.89 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release when released from prison.