The operators of a $4 million Ponzi scheme were sentenced to federal prison Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney ordered Austin Delano Page, 27, of Grover, to serve a little over eight years in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
Brandon Alexander Teague, 27, of Belmont, was sentenced to four years in prison and two years of supervised release.
The defendants were also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of more than $4.1 million.
“The defendants orchestrated an elaborate investment fraud scheme that caused extensive financial harm to their unsuspecting victims, some of whom were at or near retirement age,” said U.S. Attorney Dena King. “Working with our law enforcement counterparts we will continue to investigate and prosecute scoundrels who cheat and lie their way into their investors’ pockets, only to squander away their victims’ money.”
According to filed documents and court hearings, from October 2020 to December 2021, Page, assisted by Teague, engaged in an investment scheme that defrauded hundreds of investors of more than $4 million. Court documents show that the defendants falsely represented to people that Page and Teague were operating D&T Investment Group, a hedge fund in Kings Mountain, that invested in various securities, including stock of well-known companies like Apple.
Contrary to representations made to their investors, D&T was not a hedge fund and it did not hold any securities licenses or…
