by
Adam Ghassemi
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. – The Department of
Justice said investment fraud has become a huge problem during the recession.
Cary Martin said
she considers herself an intelligent person who had her trust violated. Martin's
former neighbor and friend, Aaron Vallett, was also a licensed financial
advisor.
"We were
great friends," she said Thursday. "He was always willing to explain
things to me and put it on the low shelf so that I could understand."
She invested
and was even with a brokerage firm until the height of the recession when
Vallett proposed something a little less risky.
"Aaron
suggested to me that I take the money out of the market and put it in a very
what he thought, and I believed to be, a very safe basic cash account,"
she said.
Prosecutors
said Vallett took Martin's money along with more than 30 others and used it for
personal and business expenses. Tuesday he was sentenced to ten years in
federal prison and ordered to repay $5.4 million.
"There's
no parole in the federal system so if you're caught running a Ponzi scheme or
fraudulent activity you can expect to be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's
Office and you can expect to get a long, federal prison sentence," said
Jerry Martin, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Martin, along
with other victims, chose to tell their stories Thursday at the Investor Fraud
Summit hosted by the Department of Justice at Vanderbilt's Law School.
She
said she will recover fiscally, but the emotional toll has been so much more.
Martin spoke out, hoping her story would help other victims to reach out for
help.
The
Department of Justice is also holding other summits around the country in the
coming weeks.
Resources for
potential fraud victims: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/contact/report-fraud.html
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