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| Man in NY Prison Accused of Fraud |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 02/28/2001 |
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A man serving time for larceny has been charged with running a multimillion dollar securities scam from prison, prosecutors said. Ira Monas, 55, of Massapequa, N.Y., fooled his employees into thinking he was in Europe when he was actually behind bars, The New York Times and Daily News reported Tuesday. With the employees' unwitting assistance, he allegedly bilked investors who thought they were buying securities out of $8.5 million. The criminal charges follow a civil suit filed against Monas by the Securities and Exchange Commission in March. In October 1999, Monas began serving a two- to four-year sentence for grand larceny and possession of forged documents. Prosecutors said Monday that during the next two months, using a pay phone at Adirondack Correctional Facility, Monas made frequent calls to two investment firms he owned. He directed employees to promote sales of securities in three initial public offerings, and about 200 investors sent millions to bank accounts Monas controlled, prosecutors said. The money was never used to buy securities for investors, authorities allege. Instead, it paid for such things as a $42,000 Mercedes-Benz for Monas' daughter. Monas was paroled in the larceny case on Feb. 15. But he was immediately re-arrested and jailed. On Friday, he appeared before a federal magistrate. He is expected to be released Tuesday on $1 million bond to the custody of his former wife. He faces up to 30 years in prison, the News said. Monas' lawyer, Stephen Scaring, told the Times his client has not admitted wrongdoing and looks forward to defending himself. Monas owns Milan Capital in Melville, N.Y. and is an undisclosed owner of AC Financial, a brokerage firm with offices in Harbor, Fla. and Pittsburgh. Each day, the state Department of Correctional Services monitors and records about 22,000 collect phone calls from 71,000 inmates at 70 prisons in New York, department spokesman James Flateau said. Because of that high volume, it is difficult to catch inmates illegally conducting business from prison, he said. |
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