Owensboro man receives 10-year sentence in federal fraud case

Dec. 18—Richard G. Maike, the Owensboro man convicted of defrauding investors of millions of dollars in a vast pyramid scheme, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Maike and his co-defendants, Faraday Hosseinipour and Doyce G. Barnes, were found guilty in September of securities fraud and mail fraud after a trial that lasted weeks at the federal courthouse in Owensboro

Maike, Hosseinipour and Barnes were indicted for their roles in Infinity 2 Global, a company that promised people who bought "packages" a share of the profits in an online casino. The company, also called I2G, also promised people who bought a package profits from the software program I2G Touch and music application Songstagram.

Federal prosecutors presented evidence that I2G really made money by recruiting people into the company, who then recruited others to buy packages, which ranged in price from $100 to $5,000 each.

In the indictment, prosecutors said the online casino never made money, that I2G Touch had numerous flaws and was available elsewhere for free and that company officials fraudulently marketed Songstagram to investors by claiming major music artists were involved in the product.

The conspirators took in as much as $25 million in the short time I2G was in existence between June 2013 and September 2014. Maike is believed to have spent as much as $12 million of the funds taken in, court records say.

Maike was also found guilty of money laundering, which involved transferring investor funds from Owensboro to an account in Hong Kong, then sending the money back to the U.S. for a land purchase in Kansas.

After the jury rendered its verdict, U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers denied a motion that Maike be released prior to conviction, citing the possibility that Maike could flee the country, and that he had millions of dollars in a foreign bank.

Maike, 55, received a 10-year sentence and was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. There is no parole in the federal system, so Maike will have to serve his complete sentence. Upon release Maike will spend three years on supervised release.

Barnes, 73, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, was sentenced to four years in federal prison, and will serve three years on supervised release. Both were ordered to pay restitution, and a restitution hearing is scheduled for February.

Any I2G victims wishing to submit a restitution claim should email the U.S. Attorney's Office at [email protected].

Hosseinipour is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 5.

Another defendant, Richard Anzalone, previously pleaded guilty and testified at trial. Two other defendants, Dennis Dvorin and Jason Syn, have yet to go to trial in the case.

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