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Chesterfield man sentenced to 13 years in prison for role in $6.6 million Ponzi scheme

Posted at 4:51 PM, Feb 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-05 16:51:59-05

NORFOLK, Va. — A Chesterfield man will spend the next 13 years in prison for his role in operating a $6.6 million Ponzi scheme over a 13 year period.

Edward Lee Moody Jr, 47, was sentenced Tuesday for mail fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property.

Moody  was a registered investment adviser and the sole owner and operator of CM Capital Management LLC, an investment firm located in Virginia Beach, according to court documents.

Moody solicited investors on the basis that he would profitably invest their assets in securities and manage those investments on an ongoing basis.

In reality, Moody ran a Ponzi scheme over a 13 year period, soliciting and collecting approximately $6.6 million from 55 investors.

At least 13 of those investors were elderly people who liquidated assets from their existing retirement accounts in order to provide funds to him.

Instead of managing the accounts or buying and selling securities on behalf of his investors, he diverted the money for his own personal benefit, using at least $1.4 million for business expenses, to purchase a home, make car loan payments, shop and travel to Las Vegas and other destinations.

In most accounts, Moody did not even open individual brokerage accounts for his investors.

Additionally, Moody also used approximately $885,000 of investor monies to buy and sell securities on his own behalf, and used around $1.8 million that he received from new investors to make periodic lulling payments to earlier investors. He also provided investors with fraudulent monthly account statements that  indicated their funds had been invested in securities and earned returns.

In addition to the prison sentence, Moody was ordered to pay over $4.8 million in restitution to his victims.

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