Key Player In $150 Million Ponzi Scheme Gets 1-Day Sentence

A California man accused of being a key player in a $150 million Ponzi scheme - allegedly the largest scheme ever uncovered in Orange County, California - will spend one day in jail for his role despite once facing over thirty felony charges.  Adam Jay Boskovich, 45, received the sentence after a California judge agreed to reduce his felony conviction to a misdemeanor following the payment of restitution to defrauded investors.  Prosecutors cited "serious statute of limitations issues" as well as victims' refusal to cooperate in justifying the decision.  Boskovich could have faced up to 45 years in prison had he been convicted of the original charges.

According to authorities, Gerald Frank Cellette masterminded a massive Ponzi scheme while living in Minnesota.  Cellette used his company, Minnesota Print Services ("MPI") to solicit potential investors by promising annual returns ranging from 10% to 15% purportedly derived from lucrative printing contracts between MPI and major companies.  Investors were provided with various documentation allegedly proving the scheme's legitimacy, such as "deal sheets" evidencing the contracts between MPI and its clients.  After Cellette sold an investment in MPI to an Orange County man in 2005, that individual informed others, including Boskovich, of the investment opportunity.   

Boskovich later formed a company called Center-Point Capital ("CPC") to solicit potential investors.  Authorities alleged that Boskovich also went one step further by essentially conducting his own scheme by making misrepresentations or omissions to investors to solicit larger investments, including that he had personally examined Cellette's operations, contracts, and insurance policies in an effort to soothe any concerns over the scheme's legitimacy.   Cellette's scheme ultimately took in more than $200 million nationwide - including $150 million from Orange County residents.  While Orange County residents ultimately incurred losses of approximately $21 million, the investors recruited by Boskovich comprised over $17 million of that amount.

Boskovich was charged in October 2013 with 32 felony counts and accused of being a key player in Cellette's scheme.  Last month, Boskovich agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of making false statements in the sale or purchase of securities, with a top Orange County prosecutor explaining that the decision to agree to such a plea deal was made in the face of "serious" statute of limitations issues and testimony by potential victims during preliminary hearings that they would not cooperate with authorities out of a fear of jeopardizing potential restitution.  Those investors had reached a confidential settlement with Boskovich in a civil lawsuit, the terms of which allowed Boskovich to reduce his conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor in the event he fully repaid investors by May 19.  Boskovich's sentence reduction followed after he was able to satisfy the terms of the civil settlement.  

Cellette is currently awaiting trial on 116 felony counts, including 46 counts of selling unregistered securities, 43 counts of money laundering, and 27 counts of using a false statement in the purchase and sale of a security.  If convicted of all charges, Cellette could be sentenced to up to 104 years in prison.