Tacoma – An unlicensed “investment advisor” from Vancouver, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 75 months in prison for mail fraud in connection with his scheme to defraud investors, including friends and family members, out of more than $4 million, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Charles Richard Burgess, 67, originally tried to blame the COVID-19 pandemic for the loss of victim funds. But in fact, Burgess had lost the bulk of investors’ money many years earlier and had concealed the losses from them. At the sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge David Estudillo noted the “long-lasting effects of the crime on the victims.” Chief Judge Estudillo told Burgess, “To lie, to cheat, to steal seem to be the values you were living by.”
“It is heartbreaking to read the victim statements describing how their lives have been dramatically altered – no retirement, no funds to care for disabled children, in one instance a victim’s home placed at risk of foreclosure,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “From the mid-1990s until 2021, Mr. Burgess led his victims – mostly friends and family members — to believe that he was successfully investing their funds for retirement. He sent fake statements showing significant gains. In truth, since at least 2013, the investment fund was insolvent and losing value, and Mr. Burgess took more than $1 million in fees for his own benefit.”
According to records filed in the case, in…
