A Santa Barbara man was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison on Monday after pleading guilty to a multi-milllion-dollar Ponzi scheme, tax evasion, and identity theft, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Darrell Arnold Aviss, 64, ran the Ponzi scheme from at least 2012 until the summer of 2020, stealing over $14 million from victims who thought they were purchasing annuities issued by Swiss insurance companies, the Justice Department said in a press release.
U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. sentenced Aviss to 133 months in prison, and ordered him to pay $14,486,169 in restitution, and to forfeit his interest in a Santa Barbara home worth about $4 million.
On June 28, Aviss pleaded guilty to 21 felonies, including five counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property over $10,000, three counts of tax evasion, six counts of willful failure to report foreign bank and financial accounts, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Most victims of Aviss’ scheme were over the age of 60.
According to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum, one victim lost more than $9.7 million, and another victim — who…
