BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Ian Campbell Gent, 73, of Amherst, NY, who was convicted in February 2011 following a jury trial of mail fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with the $6,000,000 Watermark Ponzi scheme, was resentenced to six years in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. The defendant appealed his original conviction and sentence. The conviction was upheld but a question was raised about Gent’s sentencing. The defendant was re-sentenced based on the fact that he joined the company a year into the scheme. Gent requested of a “time served" sentence which was rejected by Judge Skretny who instead imposed a 72 month sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gretchen L. Wylegala, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was hired by Guy Gane, who was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in jail in 2011, to assist him at Watermark M-One Financial Services. The company was shut down in May 2008 as a result of action by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gent, along with co-defendant James Lagona, were found guilty following a jury trial of participating in a scheme which began in early 2006, when Gane and his employees began selling "debentures" to trusting clients, claiming to be using the money to invest in waterfront real estate. Gane promised a 10% return after a year to his investors. However, no investments were made, and Gane used new investor funds to pay off the earlier investors. A total of 94 victims suffered losses of over $6,000,000. Lagona was sentenced to nine years in prison.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, and Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Shantelle Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
