Saturday, 9 August 2008

Warwick man avoids prison time in pyramid scheme

Aug 9, 2008

BOSTON (AP) - A Warwick man has been sentenced to a year of home confinement for his role in a pyramid scheme that stole $27 million from about 500 mostly Cambodian immigrants.

Authorities say 54-year-old Christian Rochon also received five years of probation at sentencing on Thursday in federal court in Boston.

Prosecutors asked for a 10-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors say the defendants told victims they would receive $300 a month for life, and the lives of their children, for every $26,000 they invested. Some victims were financially ruined after mortgaging their homes to get money to invest.

Rochon's coconspirators, 57-year-old James Bunchan and 61-year-old Seng Tan, a couple originally from Cambodia with multiple addresses, received long prison sentences in June 2007
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