Maryland Man's Second Ponzi Scheme In 25 Years Nets 20-Year Prison Term

A Maryland man who duped dozens of investors out of more than $1 million was sentenced to spend the next twenty years in prison - approximately two decades after he served jail time for a similar scheme.  Henry M. Fisher Jr., 60, received the sentence for conducting what Montgomery County prosecutors called an elaborate Ponzi scheme that duped victims by promising quick and outsized returns through the purchase and resale of real estate.  In total, Fisher's scheme is said to have caused more than $1 million in losses to approximately 23 victims.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Fisher's prison sentence comes nearly two decades after Montgomery County authorities accused Fisher of defrauding nearly 400 investors out of more than $8 million in a similar real estate Ponzi scheme.  Fisher was arrested in 1992 and charged with ten counts of theft in connection with his investment operation which promised significant returns through " an elaborate series of phony real estate deals" from December 1990 to February 1992.  

In the most recent Ponzi scheme, Fisher faced a burglary charge in addition to other counts after authorities alleged that he broke into a home to give a potential investor a "tour" of the home.  While Fisher is not the first accused schemer to face a burglary charge (see here and here), such a charge is quite rare.