U.S. Department
of Justice
United States v. Robert L. Holloway
Closed Criminal Division Cases
United States v. Robert L. Holloway
Court Docket Number: 2:11-CR-00984
This case is assigned to United States District Judge Robert J. Shelby, United States District Court for the District of Utah, 351 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101.
On December 17, Robert L. Holloway, a chief executive officer and investment manager of a purported commodities investment fund, was sentenced to 225 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $15.2 million in restitution. Holloway was convicted in August 2014 on four counts of wire fraud and one count of making and subscribing a false income tax return charged in a December 2011 indictment. The charges relate to his role in a $33 million fraud scheme involving a trading strategy based upon proprietary trading software resulting in $15.2 million in losses to investors.
It is important for you to know that just because the Court ordered the defendant to make restitution in this case does not mean that the defendant is financially capable of making restitution at this time. The Court will enter a final order of restitution early in 2015. In the meantime, please see the following web site for important information on submitting a claim: http://www.kleinutah.com/index.php/receiverships/us-ventures. In the event that sufficient restitution payments are received from the defendant, Wayne Klein will administer the criminal restitution process.
On December 8, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah unsealed an indictment, filed on December 7, 2011, charging Robert L. Holloway, investment manager and chief executive officer of US Ventures, LC (US Ventures), with four counts of wire fraud (Counts 1-4: 18 U.S.C. ｧ 1343) and one count of making and subscribing a false income tax return (Count 5: 26 U.S.C. ｧ 7206(1)) stemming from a $25 million investment fraud scheme. Holloway was arraigned on December 16, 2011, and continued on the $20,000 bond that previously had been set in this case. On August 6, 2014, Robert L. Holloway, a purported commodities investment fund whose strategy was based upon proprietary trading software, was convicted on all charges stemming from a $33 million scheme that defrauded investors of more than $10 million. The December 2011 indictment charged Holloway with four counts of wire fraud and one count of making and subscribing a false income tax return.
According to the indictment, from October 2005 until at least April 2007, Holloway recruited investors for US Ventures by making false representations about the investment entity. According to the indictment, Holloway falsely claimed that US Ventures used proprietary trading software that was consistently profitable; that US Ventures had more than $32 million under management and generated returns of 0.8 percent per trading day; and that US Ventures would retain a 30 percent share of investors' profits as a management fee. The indictment alleges that US Ventures raised more than $25 million from investors for its trading activities.
During the course of US Ventures' existence, Holloway allegedly generated and distributed reports to investors containing false daily returns on their investments, which did not disclose that U.S. Ventures was, in fact, steadily losing money. According to the indictment, between October 2005 and April 2007, US Ventures lost more than $10 million in trading. The indictment alleges that the "profit" figures on the investor reports were entirely fabricated. Holloway and US Ventures also made "profit distributions" to investors that consisted of funds solicited from new investors, not actual profits.
The indictment also alleges that Holloway misappropriated investors' funds for a variety of personal expenses, including supporting his then-wife's eBay business and Holloway's lifestyle. During 2006 alone, Holloway diverted more than $1.2 million in investor funds to a business account used for his personal use despite the fact that, as alleged in the indictment, he falsely filed a false personal tax return for 2006 in which he claimed a gross income of only $27,500.
In January 2011, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission obtained a federal court order freezing assets held by defendants Robert L. Holloway of San Diego, Calif., and US Ventures LC of Salt Lake City, Utah and Robert J. Andres and Winsome Investment Trust (Winsome), both of Houston, Texas.
Related Case: In a related case pending in the District of Utah, United States v. Robert Andres (Court Docket No. 2:11-CR-00985), pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced on December 17, 2014.
If you have any questions, please call us at 1-888-549-3945 or email us at victimassistance.fraud@usdoj.gov. The court-appointed trustee has posted information about its activities at http://www.kleinutah.com/index.php/receiverships/us-ventures. Investors and/or victims should consult those websites for additional information.