Mercer Island Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for State's Largest-Ever Ponzi Scheme

In a Seattle courtroom packed with investors, family members and emotion, convicted Ponzi scheme operator Frederick Darren Berg was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in a federal prison.

"I'm not sure how you live with yourself, with the damage you caused," U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones said after the court heard from two victims and 49-year-old Berg himself.

Jones sent Berg to federal prison for 18 years, accepting a plea agreement prosecutors arranged last August with the Mercer Island resident admitting guilt on three charges of wire fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy fraud.

According to a Feb. 3 affidavit from IRS agents, investors in the Ponzi scheme lost more than $123 million, making it the largest-ever fraud of its kind in the state.

“The greed in this case is stunning,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “This defendant stole and squandered the dreams of hundreds: dreams of retirement, dreams of homeownership, dreams of a college education for their children and grandchildren. While we could not restore those dreams, today he was held accountable for his acts.”

According to the Seattle Times, Berg disputed Assistant United States Attorney Norman Barbosa's account of when his business became a Ponzi scheme, but admitted he had willfully broken the law to "save the company."

"Did I run a 10-year Ponzi scheme and defraud you for 10 years, or did I run a legitimate business and then defraud you?" he asked.

Jones said he accepted the recommended sentence in the plea deal as a balance between the unprecented magnitude of the fraud and personal circumstances surrounding Berg's upbringing as an abused child—detailed in letters from his mother and sister.

But Jones took the opportunity before sentencing to remind the defendent of the damage he had done to "real people."

"These were supposed to be their golden years," he said, "not a dark nightmare."

Berg founded investment fund Meridian Group, representing that $280 million in investor money was invested in real estate contracts. At one point late in 2009, Berg had promised investors returns from 12 percent to as high as 50 percent, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. In doing so, he bilked more than 800 investors out of more than $245 million, according to court documents. Another $25 million in funds, according to the IRS, came from unknown sources.

In the 10 years he operated the investment fund, the Mercer Island businessman is said to have spent more than $30 million on his own lavish lifestyle, including a expensive waterfront home on the north end of Mercer Island, a luxury yacht, personal jets and lavish spending sprees.

He also diverted approximately $45 million from his investment funds without his victims' knowledge or permission for the purchase of buses and the operation of MTR Western and several subsidiary bus companies. 

"Somewhere along the way, something got in the way of a lifestyle that connot be supported—except by fiction," Jones said. "You showed a reckless disregard for the truth and other individuals."

A hearing on restitution to his victims, most of whom are elderly, is scheduled in Jones' court for April 6 at 11 a.m.

Prosecutors believe victims will be owed as much as $130 million.

“To feed his unadulterated greed, Mr. Berg took advantage of hopeful investors--many of them senior citizens who depended on their carefully built savings to afford assisted living, medical care, and higher educational opportunities for future generations,” said Steven M. Dean, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle office. “Although this sentencing doesn't change the fact that many lives are brutally impacted by Mr. Berg's actions, the FBI is pleased that, at least, Mr. Berg will serve significant time for his crimes. The FBI thanks all our state and federal agency partners for their contribution to a case that has significance for so many victims.”

Berg , and has been in federal custody ever since. He will likely serve time at a federal correctional facility in California.