WASILLA — Faunus Michael Doney, 37, of Palmer, was sentenced to serve two years for committing wire fraud.
United States District Court Judge Joshua M. Kindred sentenced Doney to serve 24 months in prison with three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to wire fraud on Sept. 22, 2020, according to a recent press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage.
Doney was also ordered to pay over $377,000 in restitution to the victims of his fraudulent scheme that defrauded three victims from August 2018 to at least June 2019, according to the press release.
Doney was a licensed insurance broker in Alaska and worked for a life insurance and annuity company based in Iowa. He was was responsible for marketing life insurance and annuities to new and existing clients in Alaska. Many of these clients were elderly and purchased those products to secure income in retirement or for estate planning.
Doney made his way across the state hosting seminars that were setup to lure elderly Alaskans into investing in his products. He convinced the three identified victims to invest much of their retirement savings with him with the promise of substantial and guaranteed returns.
There were no investments. Doney just redirected the victims’ funds to his personal and business accounts, conjuring up fake balance sheets, account statements, and other doctored evidence and to allay his victims’ concerns.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Klugman served as the prosecutor for Doney’s case. The IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI conducted the investigation with additional assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the State of Alaska Division of Insurance. Their combined efforts eventually led to a successful prosecution.
According to the press release, Kindred stated that he hoped Doney’s sentence would “send a message to Doney and others that fraudulent conduct on this scale will be met with serious consequences.”
The press release also indicated that combating elder abuse and financial fraud targeted at seniors is one of the Department of Justice’s key priorities.
Physical abuse, financial fraud, scams and exploitation, caregiver neglect and abandonment, psychological abuse, and sexual abuse are the five subtypes of elder abuse. Elder abuse is said to affect at least 10 percent of senior citizens across the country each year.
To learn more about the Elder Abuse Financial Exploitation Resources, visit justice.gov/elderjustice/roadmap.
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