Isaac Grossman |
By: Saraana Jamraj
A Parkland
man has been arrested and accused of orchestrating a sizeable
money-laundering scheme that involved defrauding elderly victims with
promises of quadrupling their money.
In a joint effort between the
Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Security and Exchange Committee,
and the U.S. Attorney’s office, Heron Bay resident, Isaac Grossman, 45,
was investigated and indicted on the charges of wire fraud, mail fraud,
and money laundering.
Grossman ran
a company called Dragon-Click Corp, a South Florida-based technology
company, which he allegedly used to target the elderly to pull off an
array of financial crimes.
According to
the indictment by U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan and George L.
Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, Grossman
spent at least $1.3 million of investors’ money on gambling, diamond
jewelry, luxury cars, tuition payments for his children’s private
education, and other personal expenditures.
Some of the
larger purchases made include $35,000 of investors’ funds on a
4.81-carat diamond ring, $21,200 for a lease payment on a McLaren
MP4-12C, $36,500 to purchase a Chevrolet Corvette, and $34,500 to
partially pay off his home mortgage.
In the
alleged scheme, Grossman sought elderly retired investors across the
country to invest in his business. To attract potential investors, he
told them about a revolutionary new shopping app that would allow users
to post a photo of any item they might want to purchase, and immediately
recognize all retailers who also sell the item, as well as provide
price comparisons and links to purchase.
The product
he described bares some similarity to Google Lens, an existing app that
can contextualize photos users submit, providing them with
identification information about it.
To further
solicit them, Grossman allegedly told investors that his company would
be sold to larger corporations, such as Google, Apple, or Amazon, for
more than one billion dollars and that their money could even be
quadrupled.
From September 2014 to April 2018, with at least 26 investors, Grossman was able to raise approximately $2.4 million.
Isaac and his wife, Adriana Grossman. |
Instead of
using the money for an internet application, patent, legal fees to close
that supposed billion dollar sale, or any other legitimate business
purposes, Grossman allegedly used that money to provide and maintain a
lavish, luxurious lifestyle for him and his wife, Adriana.
This was not
Grossman’s first brush with the law. After entering the financial
securities sector in 1997, he faced regulatory reprimand and
consequences in 2012.
In addition
to misusing investors’ money, Grossman also fraudulently concealed this
fact from investors that he was permanently banned from acting as a
broker by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and banned from
trading the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He also owed them
over $121,000 fines.
Grossman and his wife were also hit with a civil lawsuit by the SEC in June of 2018,
where their financial crimes were further detailed, including an
alleged $426,000 of investors’ funds used solely on gambling. Adriana
was alleged to have spent at least $293,000 of investors’ money between
2014 and 2016. Their LLC,
Dragon Management, was organized by her, and she was listed as the sole
signor, likely so they could do business under her name.
Full Article & Source:
Parkland Man Arrested for Bilking Elderly in Money Laundering Scheme
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