Staff report
David Bridges, 37, was sentenced June 4 to nearly five years in prison by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
Bridges pleaded guilty to bilking Carmel investors out of more than $650,000 in a fraudulent investment scheme that involved the purchase of investment and insurance products.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryAnn T. Mindrum, who prosecuted the case for the government, Bridges was also sentenced to three years of supervised release at the end of his prison term and must pay over $500,000 in restitution to the victims.
This case is the result of a collaborative investigation by the FBI and Carmel Police Department.
This matter began in November 2012 when Carmel Police were notified of alleged investment irregularities. Carmel Police then contacted representatives from the FBI, who have led the investigation since that time.
“The United States Attorney’s Office will aggressively pursue the prosecution of those individuals who bilk Hoosier out of their hard-earned retirement funds through fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett. “Stealing the hard-earned money that Hoosiers plan to retire on is inexcusable.”
Bridges admitted that he created a bogus company, SD Capital LLC, to convince investors to purchase annuity contracts at SD Capital or roll over their IRA accounts maintained elsewhere to a purported IRA account managed by SD Capital. From December 2009 through April 2012, the investors, on the advice of Bridges, wrote checks to SD Capital for the investment products. Bridges deposited these checks into his own bank account.
Bridges represented to his investors that he had purchased the investment products with their money. However, Bridges instead used the money he received for his personal benefit, including the payment of personal expenses incurred through gambling and purchases at grocery stores, gas stations, and retail shops.
