MADISON — An investment adviser was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison for defrauding a Madison client and filing a false tax return, authorities reported.
David Swartz, 59, of Highland Park, Illinois, also was sentenced to pay $181,915 in restitution to his unnamed victim by Judge William Conley on convictions for wire fraud and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. Swartz pleaded guilty to the charges on April 11, U.S. Attorney Timothy O’Shea said in a statement.
Swartz, who worked as an unregistered investment adviser and fund manager, had a close personal relationship with the victim from Madison, O’Shea sad.
Beginning in January 2009, the victim made regular and periodic investments into Swartz’s investment fund with the understanding that Swartz was conservatively investing the money. On March 18, 2020, Swartz emailed the victim a purported copy of a Charles Schwab account statement for the fund that he had altered to show a value on Dec. 31, 2019, of $1,017,191, when the actual value was $58, O’Shea said.