CINCINNATI, Ohio - Charles H. Sheehan III a/k/a “Duke Sheehan," 69, of Cumming, Georgia was sentenced to 36 months in prison for his role in a securities fraud scheme, in which a Cincinnati company lost $1 million in investment funds.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Division, announced the sentence handed down by Judge Timothy S. Black.
According to court documents, Sheehan represented himself to be the President and CEO of a purported charity called the Southern Foundation for the Advancement of Arts and Education, Inc., based in Georgia. Sheehan promised a Cincinnati-based real estate development group that he would invest $1 million from the group along with funds from the Southern Foundation in a series of purported investments. However, rather than investing the $1 million that had been wired to the defendant, Sheehan distributed the funds to himself and others.
Sheehan pleaded guilty in November 2014 to defrauding investors with respect to the Southern Foundation and the use of the investor funds. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1 million.
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the investigation by the FBI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Mangan, who represented the United States in this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
