02-02-2000CHICAGO – A Syracuse man was sentenced recently in U.S. District Court in Chicago to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $460,000 in restitution for perpetrating a fraudulent comodities scheme.
Gary Anders, 54, was indicted in December 1998 on 13 counts relating to the scheme. He pleaded guilty to mail fraud, converting funds received for commodity future trades, filing false tax returns, failure to file a tax return and perjury.
A plea agreement saved Anderson from a maximum of 22 years in prison and fines of $1.8 million.
The plea agreement indicates Anderson solicited about $500,000 from 30 investors between 1990 and October 1995, telling investors their money would be used to trade in the commodities futures market. However, Anderson admitted, the money was taken for personal use, including paying his mortgage and the costs of his children’s private school tuition.