Denver man sent to prison for defrauding investors of $5.4 million
Geoffrey James, who was convicted of defrauding investors out of almost five and a half million dollars, received state and federal sentences this month.
A Denver District Court judge on Monday ordered Geoffrey James, 59, to spend 12 years in federal prison.
James was led away in handcuffs to begin serving his prison term in Oklahoma City where is already serving a federal sentence that was handed down a week earlier, according to a press release from the Denver District Attorney's Office. In that case, James was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment by a Montana federal judge for defrauding a family there of $391,280.
The judges ordered James to repay the Montana family in full and also repay the more than $5 million owed to the 45 investors he defrauded in the Colorado case.
According to court documents, James's scheme lasted eight years, beginning in September 2012 - mere months after he had successfully filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Denver.
"It is quite probable that there are other investors who were victimized by Geoffrey James and we encourage those people to contact our Economic Crime Unit by calling 720-913-9179," said Denver District Attorney Beth McCann.
James represented himself to investors through his companies, Veritas Incorporated, Tandem Global Inc. and Wescott Special Services. He is, however, not a licensed broker, according to court documents. And the address to those three businesses which James registered with the state is in fact the location of a UPS shipping store.
Posing as a the owner of a overseas mining operation which imported gold and diamonds from overseas, James promised his clients returns of between 200% and 600% within a 90-day period and/or 20% per month. However, he only imported a small amount of gold, court documents show, and diverted investors' funds toward personal expenses, his own salary, and the repayment of other investors.
A Denver grand jury indicted James in June of 2020 on 14 counts. He was taken into custody the next month.
Prior to his bankruptcy, James was the defendant in four civil cases with unsatisfied financial judgements totaling more than $1 million dollars, per the Colorado case documents.