BOSTON, Mass. - A British Columbia man was charged today with defrauding investors of hundreds of thousands in dollars in a series of fraudulent investment schemes.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Robert Bethel, Inspector In Charge of the United States Postal Inspection Service and Susan Dukes, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Division – Boston Field Office announced today that RANDI A. BOCHINSKI, 46, of Kelowna, British Columbia has been indicted by a federal grand jury with three counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering.

According to the Indictment, BOCHINSKI promoted a series of high-yield investment programs, whereby he promised investors significant returns on their investments within a short amount of time. It is alleged that, among other schemes, BOCHINSKI solicited investors to invest in a deal called Carlant Holdings Ltd. BOCHINSKI allegedly told the Carlant investors that they would receive returns of 8-10 times their investment within 90 days and further represented that the invested funds would remain in an escrow account unless and until the investors authorized a transfer out of that account. It is further alleged that despite these promises, BOCHINSKI transferred the investments out of the escrow account without notifying the investors. To date, only small portions of the initial investment have been returned to the investors, none of it was returned within 90 days, and the promised returns have been non-existent.

BOCHINSKI allegedly also promoted several other fraudulent investments to investors throughout the country and used funds invested by newer investors to make payments to previous investors.

If convicted, BOCHINSKI faces a maximum of 20 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the mail and wire fraud charges. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, followed by three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the money laundering charge.

BOCHINSKI was arrested in British Columbia on June 3, 2010.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation – Boston Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Walters of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

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