Florida COO sentenced in Virginia for $25M investment fraud

A Florida woman was sentenced today to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay over $25 million in restitution for engaging in an investment fraud conspiracy that victimized over 300 investors and caused approximately $25 million in losses.

“Raeann Gibson and her co-conspirators orchestrated and facilitated a massive scheme to defraud mostly elderly investors of approximately $25 million,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “In the end, Gibson and her co-conspirators left a wake of financial devastation that wiped out hundreds of vulnerable victims located throughout the country, including massive losses to victims located here in Hampton Roads.”

According to court documents, Gibson, 48, of Palm City, along with codefendant Daryl Bank and others, engaged in a conspiracy by which they operated an investment fraud scheme from approximately January 2012 through July 2017 in the Tidewater area and across the country. Gibson, who served as chief operating officer of Dominion Investment Group, and her conspirators engaged in a nationwide fraudulent investment scheme that deceived hundreds of unsuspecting investors – most at or near retirement age – by convincing them to invest in companies owned and controlled by Daryl Bank.

At Bank’s direction, Gibson then stole outright significant portions of investment funds to fund their criminal enterprise and Bank’s lavish lifestyle. For example, Bank caused numerous material misrepresentations and omissions to be made to several investors, including BC, who was blind and in his late 70s at the time he invested $20,000 of his retirement funds in an investment fraud called Prime Spectrum. Immediately upon receipt of BC’s funds, Bank and Gibson misappropriated 70 percent of the investment funds.

Gibson facilitated and supported this scheme in a variety of ways including creating numerous shell companies, laundering investment funds through multiple accounts, and speaking with, and often calming, uncomfortable investors who called with questions about their investments. At Bank’s direction, she stole millions of dollars from investors to pay herself and to support Bank’s lavish lifestyle.

Gibson routinely wired funds to pay for Bank’s $100,000 monthly American Express bills and, in one instance, facilitated Bank’s purchase of an 8-carat diamond ring for Bank’s wife. This scheme was vast in its scope and defrauded over 300 investors and caused approximately $25 million in losses.