US v. Maike, et al.

On November 13, 2019, a federal grand jury in returned a thirteen-count superseding indictment charging Richard Maike, Doyce Barnes, Richard Anzalone, Faraday Hosseinipour, Dennis Dvorin, and Jason Syn in connection with an alleged pyramid scheme.  Maike was also charged with nine counts of money laundering and two counts of tax evasion.

Trial for Maike, Barnes, and Hosseinipour started in Owensboro, Kentucky on July 12, 2022, and concluded with the jury’s verdict on September 7, 2022, after four hours of deliberation.  The jury found all three defendants guilty on all counts.  One co-defendant, Richard Anzalone, previously entered a plea of guilty to the conspiracy to commit securities fraud and testified at trial. Anzalone’s charges were dismissed after he died in October of 2022.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Maike, Barnes, and Hosseinipour sold positions in Infinity 2 Global, or I2G, purportedly a multi-level marketing company, which the United States proved at trial was operating as a pyramid scheme. The evidence at trial showed that in approximately 15 months, I2G sold nearly 5,000 of the $5,000 Emperor positions generating, along with other lower-priced positions, over $30 million in revenue, much of which went out in the form of commissions to the promoters at the top of the pyramid structure. Commissions were generated based on recruitment of new members into the company. Over 90% of the people who bought a membership in I2G lost money. 

On December 12, 2022, the Court sentenced Maike to 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay a $100,000 fine.  On December 16, 2022, the Court sentenced Barnes to __ years in prison.  They were each also ordered to serve a 3 term of supervised release after being released from prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

The sentencing hearing for Hosseinipour has been set for January 5, 2022 at 10:00 AM at the federal courthouse in Owensboro, Kentucky before Judge Greg Stivers. You are welcome to attend this proceeding; however, unless you have received a subpoena, your attendance is not required by the Court. If you plan on attending, you may want to verify the date and time by using the VNS Call Center or website. If you are a victim of the charged offense(s) and wish to speak at sentencing, please call our office well in advance of the scheduled hearing date.

No trial date has been set for Dvorin and Syn.

The Court has set a Restitution Hearing on February 2, 2023 at 10 AM in the federal courthouse in Owensboro, Kentucky.  Paying victims back for their losses is very important. Restitution is part of an offender's criminal punishment and is meant to hold each offender responsible for his/her actions. It is helpful for the Court to know the impact of this crime on its victims. If you wish to make a restitution claim, please email usakyw.i2grestitution@usdoj.gov. 

Request for Input
If you want to inform the United States Attorney’s Office of your views regarding any aspect of the case, please send an email to usakyw.i2grestitution@usdoj.gov.