Ohio man sentenced in $17 million Amish fraud case

(AP) YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - An Amish man who managed investments for members of his religious community in 29 states was sentenced to more than six years in prison Wednesday for defrauding them out of nearly $17 million.

Federal investigators said Monroe L. Beachy, 78, promised investors safe securities but moved their money to riskier investments.

U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson rejected his request to allow him to serve his 6. 5 year sentence at home and instead ordered that Beachy be sent to prison. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of at least 12 years.

Beachy, who is a member of an Amish church near Sugarcreek, about 60 miles south of Cleveland, pleaded guilty in March to mail fraud. He operated an investment business that filed for bankruptcy protection two years ago.

About 2,700 people and entities, including an Amish community loan fund, lost about $16.8 million over the past six years, the government said.

"This was fraud on a massive scale," said U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach. "This defendant took advantage of people's trust in him and squandered the life savings of hundreds upon hundreds of families."

Beachy had faced up to a maximum 20-year sentence, but federal sentencing guidelines called for a short sentence.

It's uncommon for the Amish to take their disputes public, so much that members of Mennonite and Amish communities initially wanted to settle the matter out of court. But a bankruptcy judge rejected the idea last year.

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Members of the Plain Community said Beachy had "accepted the counsel of his church" and wanted to dismiss the bankruptcy filing. They said he had "breached the trust of his fellow Amish and Mennonites by moving from the Plain Community's environment of trust and mutual aid" and moving the matter to bankruptcy court.

Investigators have stopped short of saying whether Beachy had personally profited, but they've noted that Beachy made a living for years offering investor services to the Amish.

Beachy's A&M Investments filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2010, listing about $33 million in liabilities and nearly $18 million in assets.

Ohio's Amish communities are centered in rural counties south and east of Cleveland. They have a modest lifestyle, traveling by horse and buggy and forgoing most modern conveniences.

[rwsmith29456]

So the Amish are defrauders and beard shavers, eh?

[askagain]

The article only refers to one person going to jail. Ever hear the expression that "there is a rotten apple in every barrel. Are you suggesting that everyone from your ethnic, religious, or racial background is honest? Certainly you are brighter than your comment suggests.

[Jaylah54100]

I have no dislike or disrespect for the Amish. They have their own way of life, and they leave everybody else alone. They aren't like the "Christian Right" that loves to run around telling everybody else how righteous they are and how everybody that doesn't agree with them on everything is going to go to hell.

For example, they don't usually buy insurance, but they aren't responsible for the old thing about going to the emergency room and making the rest of us pay their medical bills. They're basically self-insured through their own community. If somebody gets really sick, the community chips in to pay the bills.

However, one of the FEW things about the Amish that does bother me is the way they have no use for "outside" influences...including laws, until something happens in their own communities. And then they want outside courts to intervene.

They are allowed a special dispensation from the laws regarding sending children to school, but when one of them goes off the deep end and starts cutting off their hair, or defrauds them with phony investment schemes, they want an outside court to deal with it.

Be a community unto yourselves, or don't. But you don't get to have it both ways depending on what suits you at the moment.

[bmm71]

The way I read this article, at least in this particular case, the Amish community wanted to handle this on their own. If you re-read the article, it states that a bankruptcy judge refused the community's request to settle out of court.

[davcor2]

I'm sure he'll request a padlock and refuse a cell with an automatic electronic closing lock.

[rheola-2009]

A good exampl;e of an old saying.

"You show me a truly religious person, and I shall show you a hypocrite and a bigot"

[rheola-2009]

Hullo Mr. mecanik-2009

What you say must be true, how could any comment from such an enlightened person be any thing but fact.

I hope you have a restful and enjoyable night.