Date: 02-03-2021

Case Style:

Case Number: 1:19-cr-332

Judge: T.S. Ellis, III

Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Fairfeild County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description: Alexandria, Virginia investment fraud scheme criminal defense lawyer presented Defendant, Roberto Clark, age 50, who was charged with investment fraud involving the supposed production and sale of motorized surfboards.

According to court documents, Roberto Clark, 50, previously a resident of Bethesda, Maryland, operated a scheme to defraud small investors in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. As part of the scheme, Clark falsely promised that the investments made with Clark’s company, KRM Services, would go toward manufacturing “Jetboards” for resale to third parties at substantial profits. Instead, Clark spent the money on maintaining his lavish lifestyle.

To execute the scheme, Clark falsified sales contracts with cruise lines and water sports companies; forged signatures and notary stamps; fabricated emails from supposed buyers of the Jetboards; and falsified a patent report so that it would appear he could obtain a patent on the Jetboard. He provided all of this false information to investors to convince them to invest in KRM Services. In reality, Clark had purchased a Chinese-made motorized surfboard that had serious mechanical and design problems and never properly functioned. Clark never sold a single surfboard to any buyer.

Clark primarily defrauded small investors, including people he met socially in local restaurants and bars. He maxed out one victim’s personal credit card on Christmas Eve so that she could not buy her daughter a present or travel to see family. According to court documents, Clark stole more than $400,000 from 14 victims between 2016 and 2019, causing substantial financial hardship to a number of them.

Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; James A. Dawson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division; Matthew S. Miller, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office; and Michael L. Brown, Alexandria Chief of Police, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, III. The Fairfax County Police Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission also provided assistance in the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Russell L. Carlberg and Kimberly Riley Pedersen prosecuted the case.
18:1343 and 2 Wire Fraud

Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation occurs in relation to, or involving any benefit authorized, transported, transmitted, transferred, disbursed, or paid in connection with, a presidentially declared major disaster or emergency (as those terms are defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)), or affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.

Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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