A & M Investments owner charged with mail fraud
A Sugarcreek man who ran an investing firm for Amish and Mennonite clients has been charged criminally in federal court.
A & M Investments owner Monroe L. Beachy is charged with mail fraud, a felony offense, in an indictment brought by the U.S. Attorney General in U.S. District Court. The case will be heard in a Youngstown federal court branch.
The indictment alleges Beachy, operating as sole owner of A & M Investments, used the mail service to further a fraudulent scheme perpetrated on 2,698 investors from Oct. 1, 2006 to June 2010. Beachy claimed A & M’s holdings stood at $33 million, when in fact they stood at approximately $17 million. He made mailings to investors that carried the false claims that A & M Investments was making a consistent profit in “safe,” government backed securities, according to the indictment. The indictment reads that Beachy “provided his clients or investors with monthly statements showing interest earned and the account balance” through the mail. The statements led “investors to believe they were earning interest and had an account balance that was overinflated compared to the actual assets of A & M Investments.”
Beachy had actually placed the money into riskier investments, including Internet stocks, shortly before the “dot.com bust” in the stock market, according to court records.
The majority of investors were of the Amish and Mennonite faiths. The investors included children.
No date has been set for arraignment, according to federal court records. Beachy faces up to 20 years if convicted of the mail fraud charge.
A Security Exchange Commission investigation into the matter placed Beachy under an injunction barring him from practicing as a financial agent in any capacity.
Beachy filed for bankruptcy June 30, 2010, allegedly after learning he was under investigation. An ad hoc committee was formed by a council of Amish bishops that petitioned the U.S. bankruptcy courts to drop the proceedings. The committee’s request was struck down by bankruptcy judge Russ Kendig.
A & M Investments owner Monroe L. Beachy is charged with mail fraud, a felony offense, in an indictment brought by the U.S. Attorney General in U.S. District Court. The case will be heard in a Youngstown federal court branch.
The indictment alleges Beachy, operating as sole owner of A & M Investments, used the mail service to further a fraudulent scheme perpetrated on 2,698 investors from Oct. 1, 2006 to June 2010. Beachy claimed A & M’s holdings stood at $33 million, when in fact they stood at approximately $17 million. He made mailings to investors that carried the false claims that A & M Investments was making a consistent profit in “safe,” government backed securities, according to the indictment. The indictment reads that Beachy “provided his clients or investors with monthly statements showing interest earned and the account balance” through the mail. The statements led “investors to believe they were earning interest and had an account balance that was overinflated compared to the actual assets of A & M Investments.”
Beachy had actually placed the money into riskier investments, including Internet stocks, shortly before the “dot.com bust” in the stock market, according to court records.
The majority of investors were of the Amish and Mennonite faiths. The investors included children.
No date has been set for arraignment, according to federal court records. Beachy faces up to 20 years if convicted of the mail fraud charge.
A Security Exchange Commission investigation into the matter placed Beachy under an injunction barring him from practicing as a financial agent in any capacity.
Beachy filed for bankruptcy June 30, 2010, allegedly after learning he was under investigation. An ad hoc committee was formed by a council of Amish bishops that petitioned the U.S. bankruptcy courts to drop the proceedings. The committee’s request was struck down by bankruptcy judge Russ Kendig.
Published: September 19, 2011
