Former Mail Carrier Sentenced in $2.1 Million Investment Scam

Tallahassee, Fla. – The Florida Office of Financial Regulation today announced that Lawyer Stanley, Jr., has been sentenced to eight years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service for his role in an investment scheme that stole more than $2.1 million from at least 36 victims. Stanley was also ordered to pay restitution to his victims.

Alex Toledo, OFR Acting Bureau Chief of Financial Investigations, said “Thank you to our investigators and partners, including the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office, for their efforts in stopping this scam and bringing this criminal to justice. The Florida Office of Financial Regulation will continue to fight to protect Floridians from financial scams.”

From 2006 to 2015, while employed as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service, Stanley solicited investors for a purported gold and diamonds investment opportunity in Africa mainly from residents of his mail route, but also co-workers and acquaintances. Stanley represented that he traveled to Africa to personally visit gold and diamond mines to select stones to be imported and sold in the United States. He also persuaded victims to invest in large scale infrastructure projects for which he claimed to have exclusive contracts with governments in Africa. He promised investors that he would double their investments. Instead, Stanley spent most of his victims’ money on personal living expenses.

Floridians are encouraged to always be on the look out for financial scams. If you suspect questionable financial business practices, please file a complaint online at  www.flofr.gov, or by calling (850) 487-9687.