Wilton Man Enters Plea For Multi-Million-Dollar Ponzi Scheme

WILTON, CT ― A Wilton man was sentenced Monday on charges that he participated in a Ponzi scheme through a fraudulent hedge fund, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Steven Simmons, 48, was charged with conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud for soliciting more than $6 million in investments and misappropriating funds for personal use.

Investigators say Simmons took the funds for his own use and knew that the hedge fund used the remainder of the funds to pay back prior investors.

“Steven Simmons engaged in one of the oldest frauds in the book: using investor funds to pay back earlier investors, all while skimming funds off the top for his own personal use," Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a statement. "When investors demanded the returns promised to them, they learned that the entire investment was just a scam. Now Simmons, who admitted his guilt in court today, will answer for his crimes.”

Between 2013 and 2017, Simmons falsely represented to investors would be used for specified investment purposes. Investigators found he failed to invest the money properly, and continued to divert funds for his own use.

Simmons told one investor that its funds would be placed with a highly successful group of portfolio managers, but then used the funds to pay off a previous investor within minutes of receiving the first investor's money.

In a recorded conversation with a cooperative witness, Simmons was concerned the victim would contact the portfolio managers and learn that there was no money.

He also provided false monthly statement.

He pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. The conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.