A Chicago man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for his role in a wire and commodities fraud scheme that resulted in over $4 million in losses to more than a dozen victims, according to Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello.
Philip Galles, 59, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court to charges of wire and commodities fraud. On February 5, 2026, Judge Salas sentenced Galles to 151 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Galles was also ordered to pay restitution exceeding $4 million to the victims. At the end of the sentencing hearing, he was remanded into custody by the U.S. Marshal.
Court documents and statements revealed that Galles operated a fraudulent investment scheme through his company, Tyche Asset Management, based in Chicago. He falsely told investors that their funds would be used for commodity futures trading and claimed Tyche had a strong record with annual returns over 100%. However, authorities found that almost no legitimate investments were made. Instead, Galles used new investor money to pay earlier investors and fund personal expenses such as luxury clothing, rent on an upscale apartment, and high-end vehicles.
During the investigation, Galles met with an undercover agent posing as an investment manager in New Jersey. In these meetings, he made several false claims about Tyche’s performance—including supposed annual returns of 336%, raising over $2 billion within two months of launching the fund, and having prominent clients like a Kuwaiti sovereign fund and a professional sports team owner. He also lied about graduating from a well-known Midwestern university.
Senior Counsel Lamparello credited special agents from the United States Attorney’s Office under Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Maltese (Newark), inspectors from the United States Postal Inspection Service led by Inspector in Charge Christopher Nielsen, as well as assistance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and National Futures Association for their roles in investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Silane (Chief of Economic Crimes Unit) and Andrew Kogan (Cybercrime Unit) represented the government. Defense counsel was Michael Koribanics.
