A Virginia man was sentenced today to more than eight years in prison for his involvement in a fraud scheme that resulted in millions of dollars in losses for investors.
Daniel Boice, 41, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty to a charge of securities fraud and a charge of electronic fraud on December 3, 2020. According to court documents, as of 2015, Boice has fraudulently requested investments in Trustify, a Arlington-based company that Boice promoted as the “Uber” of private investigator services. Boice raised more than $ 18 million from more than 250 individual and corporate investors, among other things, falsely exaggerating Trustify’s financial performance. To secure investor capital, Boice inflated Trustify’s monthly and annual revenues into detailed fraudulent financial statements and presentations to investors, and fabricated great corporate business relationships to support his false statements about Trustify’s growth. In addition, Boice created a fake email account to impersonate a prominent potential investor and then used the account to send a fraudulent email to successfully convince an investment firm to invest about $ 2 millions on Trustify.
Boice also made false statements to investors about the amount of investor funds he would personally receive, while diverting a substantial amount of the investor’s money for his own benefit. Boice personally obtained at least $ 3.7 million in fraud revenue, including several million dollars in transfers from Trustify to bank accounts under his control and personal expenses on credit cards paid for with Trustify funds. Boice embezzled funds from Trustify, for example, to secure payment for a $ 1.6 million house in Alexandria and a $ 1 million beach house in New Jersey, as well as to pay for a driver, house manager and various items luxurious. Boice also used Trustify funds to pay for family vacations, private jet travel and more than $ 100,000 for premium seats at sporting events.
In 2019, facing declining revenues and the consequences of the Boice company’s asset diversion for its personal expenses, Trustify was put into corporate liquidation by the Delaware Chancellery Court. The company’s collapse resulted in more than $ 18 million in losses for investors and more than $ 250,000 in unpaid wages and associated costs for Trustify employees.
In addition, Boice was ordered to pay $ 18,131,742.21 in restitution and lose $ 3.7 million.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice; Acting United States Attorney, Raj Parekh, Eastern District of Virginia; and the special agent in charge, James A. Dawson, of the Criminal Division of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case with the help of the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
Prosecutor Blake Goebel of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section and Assistant Attorney General Russell L. Carlberg of the East Virginia District Attorney’s Office sued the case.