A Norwalk man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $1.6 million, and for stealing millions more from other investment accounts.
James E. Neilsen, 55, of Norwalk was sentenced in late January to 97 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.
In total, the financial losses due to Nielsen”™s scheme exceed $6 million, according to the office of Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Nielsen was a certified public accountant until he became inactive in approximately 2012. Since at least 2006, he solicited and received more than $1 million from numerous individuals to invest with Ulysses Partners, LLC, of which Nielsen was a partner and chief financial officer, or Neilsen Financial Services, an additional entity that he owned and controlled.
Neilsen told investors that the companies would invest their money in businesses or business ventures and promised a guaranteed rate of return of 9 to 10.5 percent on their investment. Instead, he used much of that money to pay back earlier victim investors and to make personal expenditures. As part of the scheme, he fabricated account statements and sent lulling emails in addition to stealing funds from various trust and estates accounts to which he had access.
His victims include his accounting clients, clients of his tax preparation business, friends and members of his family, including his 93-year-old great-aunt. His victims also include minor children who are beneficiaries of a trust established after their father”™s death and whose trust monies Neilsen had authorized access to.
Neilsen was arrested on June 18, 2015. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Sept. 24, 2015. He has been released on bond since his arrest and will be confined to his home on electronic monitoring until he reports to prison on March 11.
A restitution hearing will be scheduled.
