Judge Sentences Lafayette Venture Capitalist To 2 Years For Wire Fraud Scheme
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The former CEO of a Walnut Creek and Lafayette-based venture capital firm was sentenced in an Oakland courtroom Wednesday to two years in prison and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution for a wire fraud scheme he devised to pay off personal debts, federal prosecutors said.
A U.S. District Court judge handed down the sentence today to 58-year-old Lafayette resident Stephen B. Lopez, founder of local private equity investment company Lighthorse Ventures, LLC.
Federal prosecutors said that in 2008 Lopez needed to pay off a civil settlement that he personally owed and told victims that Lighthorse Ventures needed the money to pay off a loan.
Victims sent checks to the company that Lopez deposited into the firm's bank account and later used to write a $600,000 check to pay off his own personal debts, according to prosecutors.
After a joint investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI, a federal grand jury indicted Lopez in March 2013. He was charged with three counts of mail fraud, seven counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.
A year later, he was also charged with obstruction of justice and witness tampering, according to prosecutors.
As part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Lopez pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud last August.