South Florida Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Role in $2.4 Million Investment Scam

David Aubel, aka David Kost, was sentenced to serve 14 years in state prison to be followed by 10 years of probation for his role in an investment scheme that defrauded 12 Florida investors out of approximately $2.4 million. Additionally, on October 23, 2023, Aubel’s former business partner, Nelson Garcia entered a plea of no contest to charges of criminal conspiracy and unlicensed telemarketing for his role in the scheme and was sentenced to five years’ probation.

Garcia and Aubel were principals of Angel Investment Partners, a company that claimed to invest in private startup businesses located in and around the Fort Lauderdale area. They sold convertible debentures that they claimed were issued by these startup businesses and paid quarterly returns of 8.25percent or more. They represented that the funds raised from the sale of the debentures would go directly to the startups. The investigation revealed that the startup companies did not receive all the funds raised from the sale of the debentures and investors were not able to obtain a return on their original investment.

Neither Angel Investment Partners, Aubel, or Garcia were licensed under the provisions of Chapter 517, Florida Statutes, to sell or issue securities at the time of the debenture sales. In fact, Garcia had previously been the subject of an OFR Final Order directing him to cease and desist from the sale of unregistered securities after he was found to have been selling the unregistered promissory notes of another business entity.

This case was investigated by the OFR and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.