An Orlando business owner who pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud and money laundering charges in connection with a multi-million-dollar investment fraud scheme will spend more than two decades behind bars.
On Thursday, August 8, U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza sentenced 42-year-old St. Cloud resident Avinash Singh to 24 years in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering.
The court also ordered Singh to forfeit the $57 million in proceeds that he obtained from the offenses, along with two personal residences that were purchased with these proceeds.
Singh had entered a guilty plea on May 6, 2024.
According to court records, Singh operated an Orlando-based company called Highrise Advantage, LLC. Beginning in February 2013 through September 2020, he solicited and received more than $57 million from over 1,100 victims, which was supposed to be invested in retail foreign currency contracts (“forex”) through Highrise.
Singh told the victims that he had “a proven track record of success” as a forex trader. He further claimed that he was going to use the funds for investments in forex, and he “guaranteed” that his victims would not lose any funds.
Rather than investing the victims’ funds in forex trading as promised, Singh used funds from one investor to pay amounts that were owed to another investor. In addition, he did not invest the funds that he promised to invest, and at least $45 million was misappropriated in the form of payments to other investors and millions of dollars in personal expenses.
Those personal expenses included the purchase of real estate, retail purchases, phone bills, events, dining, and reserving music studio space to record music with his band.
“This case epitomizes selfish greed at an astonishing level,” stated Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Tampa Field Office. “Mr. Singh tried to use the proceeds of his Ponzi scheme to live like a pop star while popping the dreams of his victim investors. This sentencing shows that we will go to great lengths to ensure those who try to illegally place themselves above others are held accountable.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, the St. Cloud IRS Federal Financial Crimes Task Force, and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda S. Daniels.
The asset recovery was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole M. Andrejko.