A 63-year-old Denver attorney was sentenced in New Haven, Conn. Tuesday for her role in a securities fraud scheme that bilked investors out of $20 million and sent a former Hartford city councilman to jail.
Judge Jeffrey Meyer also ordered Diane Dalmy to pay $2 million in restitution to victims across the country and to serve a term of three years of supervised release following her prison term.
Diane Dalmy had pleaded guilty in February to one count of conspiracy, according to John Durham, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.
The defendants in the scheme — with ties to Florida, Colorado and New Hampshire — include former Hartford councilman Corey Brinson, who is serving a three-year sentence at a federal prison in Lewisburg, Pa., according to federal prison records.
Dalmy had a prior run-in with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after issuing a positive opinion letter about a shell corporation. On July 29, 2016, she was permanently disqualified from appearing or practicing law before the SEC, according to federal documents.
In the latest case, Dalmy allegedly laundered about $825,000 from the “pump-and-dump” stock scheme through Queen Asia’s bank accounts and her attorney accounts.
Dalmy acted largely under the direction of William Lieberman of Boca Raton, Fla., authorities said. Lieberman and others induced investors to buy securities in shell companies — some with virtually no legitimate business activities — with false and misleading claims. When investors drove the price up, the defendants dumped their large positions in the stock.
“They then ended the promotion and allowed the share price to plummet, leaving investors holding worthless and unsalable stock,” the news release says.
Dalmy ghost-wrote fraudulent opinion letters about the companies including “adequacy” letters. She sometimes used money from client accounts to front conspiracy activities.
Six other conspirators, including Lieberman, have been convicted and have either been sentenced or await sentencing, the news release says.
Source : Denver Post
