Serial Fraudster Sentenced To 90 Months In Prison For Investment Scam And Money Laundering
Acting United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker announced the sentencing of RANDY MILAND, 63, to 90 months in federal prison for operating a Ponzi scheme through which he stole or attempted to steal more than $500,000 from purported investors. MILAND was indicted on June 7, 2016, and pleaded guilty on September 9, 2016. MILAND was sentenced on June 6, 2017, before United States District Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn.
“Randy Miland is a serial scam artist whose trail of swindles has now led him straight to a lengthy prison sentence,” said Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman, whose agency regulates investment securities at the state level. “Over and over again, he stole people’s life savings with his fraudulent schemes. By stopping these scams, we are protecting Minnesotans in the financial marketplace.”
“IRS Criminal Investigation remains committed to uncovering investment fraud schemes and bringing to justice those who prey on investors for their personal financial gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Shea Jones of St. Paul Field Office IRS Criminal Investigation. “Today’s 90 month sentencing of Randy Miland shows that committing investment fraud will result in severe consequences.”
“Randy Miland is a conman and serial fraudster who lied to and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his friends and chiropractic patients,” said Assistant United States Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “Thanks to the collaborative work of the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS, Mr. Miland will now pay for his many years of criminal conduct.”
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, MILAND, who was a licensed chiropractor in the state of Minnesota, had prior convictions in state and federal court for various financial fraud schemes. In 1999, MILAND was convicted in state court of theft by swindle, sentenced to 55 months in prison, and ordered to pay more than $1.5 million in restitution to the victims. As of May 2016, MILAND still owed those victims nearly the entire amount of restitution ordered. In 2006, MILAND was convicted in federal court of fraud, sentenced to 41 months in prison, and ordered to pay more than $250,000 in restitution to the victims. MILAND currently still owes approximately $124,000 in restitution to the victims of his 2006 federal case.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, from 2010 through 2014, MILAND fraudulently solicited more than $500,000 from ten investors, telling them that he would use their money to invest in futures and other legitimate investments. In reality, he used their money to pay personal expenses, including court-ordered restitution payments to victims of his prior scams, and to make Ponzi-type payments of purported investment returns to other investors.
MILAND concealed material facts from his new victims, including the fact that he had been twice convicted of fraudulent conduct, that the Minnesota Board of Chiropractic Examiners suspended his license, that he was forbidden by the Minnesota Department of Commerce from offering or selling securities, and that he still owed more than $1.5 million in restitution to victims of prior schemes.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS and the Minnesota Department of Commerce Fraud Bureau.
Defendant Information:
RANDY MILAND, 63
White Bear Lake, Minn.
Convicted:
- Mail fraud, 1 count
- Money laundering, 1 count
Sentenced:
- 90 months in prison
- $214,517 in restitution
- Three years of supervised release
