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Investor sentenced to 7 years in prison for Ponzi scheme

SHARON, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut hedge fund manager has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for an investment scheme that prosecutors say swindled millions of dollars from his friends and family.

Alvin Wilkinson, 61, of Sharon, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Illinois after pleading guilty earlier this year to one count of wire fraud. The Sharon resident was also ordered to pay more than $8 million in restitution.

Prosecutors say Wilkinson convinced at least 30 people, most of them his friends, family and colleagues, to invest approximately $13.5 million in two funds he founded: Chicago Index Partners LP and Wilkinson Financial Opportunity Fund LP.

Wilkinson, who is a former director of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, claimed he would use the money to invest in options and futures, using a trading strategy that would generate profits for this investors, regardless of market conditions.

Instead, prosecutors say, Wilkinson frequently used the money to cover personal expenses. He also used more recent investments to pay out earlier investors in a Ponzi-type scheme. Prosecutors say Wilkinson started the scheme around 1999 and continued it until 2016.

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Brian Kilmeade

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