Turlock会计师庞氏骗局认罪：近90名投资者投入约1103万美元，骗局崩盘时仍欠约719万美元
美国加利福尼亚州斯坦尼斯劳斯县 Turlock 市的报税员兼会计师 Antonio Honorato Silveira（50岁）10月26日在联邦法院就电汇欺诈罪认罪。加州东区联邦检察官 Eric Grant 宣布了这一认罪：Silveira 以代客炒股为名承诺每年13%至17%的回报，2019年至2025年间约89名投资者交给他约1,103万美元，骗局2025年崩盘时他仍欠投资者约719万美元。
根据法庭文件，Silveira 最迟自2011年6月起便接收客户资金代为投资，以签署本票与担保书的方式承诺每年13%至17%的回报，投资者授权他全权决定股票买卖。但他炒股持续亏损，还挪用投资者资金支付个人开销。到2017年，他写信给三名投资者称：「我的钱全没了，全都亏光了。看起来也不会有新投资者了。」他还道歉称：「这整件事糟透了，我很抱歉。」尽管如此，他仍继续招揽新投资者。
2019年至2025年间，约89名投资者共交给 Silveira 约1,103万美元，而他明知自己无力兑现承诺的回报。这期间他只有两个盈利年份、五个亏损年份，且每个亏损年份的亏损都超过任何单个盈利年份的盈利。为掩盖亏损，他动用约384万美元投资者资金，冒充投资回报付给其他投资者。骗局2025年崩盘时，他欠投资者约719万美元；25名以上投资者蒙受重大财务困境，包括损失退休储蓄或子女大学基金、被迫推迟退休、卖掉住房。
本案由国税局刑事调查局（IRS Criminal Investigation）调查，助理联邦检察官 Nicholas M. Fogg 负责起诉。Silveira 定于2027年2月8日由联邦地区法官 Dale A. Drozd 量刑，电汇欺诈罪最高可判20年监禁；实际刑期将由法院综合联邦量刑指南与法定因素裁定。
Turlock Accountant Pleads Guilty in Ponzi Scheme: Nearly 90 Investors Put In About $11.03 Million, $7.19 Million Still Owed at Collapse
Antonio Honorato Silveira, 50, a tax preparer and accountant from Turlock in Stanislaus County, California, pleaded guilty on October 26 to wire fraud in federal court. U.S. Attorney Eric Grant for the Eastern District of California announced the plea: Silveira promised annual returns of 13% to 17% for investing clients' money in the stock market, and from 2019 to 2025 about 89 investors gave him about $11.03 million; when the scheme collapsed in 2025 he still owed investors about $7.19 million.
According to court documents, by no later than June 2011 Silveira began accepting money from clients to invest on their behalf, memorializing promised annual returns of 13% to 17% in signed promissory notes and guarantees, with investors giving him full discretion over stock trades. He was an unsuccessful trader who consistently lost money and also diverted investor funds to pay his own expenses. By 2017 he wrote to three investors: "I no longer have any money, it was all lost. Doesn't appear to be any new investors in sight either." He added: "This whole experience has been terrible and I apologize." Despite that, he continued to solicit new investors.
From 2019 to 2025, approximately 89 investors gave Silveira about $11.03 million while he knew he could not pay the promised returns. Over that period he had only two profitable years and five losing years, and his losses in each losing year exceeded the gains of any single profitable year. To cover up the losses, he used about $3.84 million of investor funds to make payments falsely portrayed as investment returns. When the scheme collapsed in 2025, he owed investors about $7.19 million, and more than 25 investors suffered substantial hardships, including lost retirement savings or college funds, delayed retirements, and the sale of a home.
IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas M. Fogg is prosecuting the case. Silveira is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on February 8, 2027, and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison; the actual sentence will be determined by the court after considering the federal Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于 Fresno 的 Robert E. Coyle 联邦法院大楼（加州东区联邦法院 Fresno 分院）。Cadk 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经维基共享资源。 / The Robert E. Coyle United States Courthouse in Fresno, California. By Cadk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
