(The Center Square) – A man found guilty of 14 counts of wire fraud and another count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud got a lengthy prison sentence this week.
Bryant Edwin Sewall, 57, formerly of Little Elm, Texas, received a 23-year prison sentence, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado. A federal jury found Sewall guilty of these charges in May 2024.
Additionally, the court found his business partner, Michael Shawn Stewart, 61, of Scottsdale, Ariz., guilty of those same charges. Stewart will receive his prison sentence at a later date.
A three-week trial revealed evidence that Stewart and Sewall owned and operated companies on various Caribbean islands under the names Mediatrix Capital and Blue Isle Markets.
In their scheme, Stewart and Sewall gave investors and salesmen from Colorado and elsewhere false and fraudulent information regarding an algorithm-based foreign currency exchange (“ForEx”) trading program.
“For example, Stewart and Sewall falsely represented that Mediatrix had a history of successful ForEx trading going back to 2013 with no months of losses when, instead, Mediatrix did not exist until 2014, and its trading history included many months of net losses. Mediatrix promised its investors’ 100% Transparency,’ ‘100% Liquidity’ and ‘World Class Returns,'” the release said.
Further evidence presented at the trial showed that after luring investors to their scheme, Stewart and Sewall got them to stay by manipulating account statements so they only showed positive trades. The two intentionally hid the massive losses that significantly reduced those investors’ accounts.
By the scheme’s end, the two had promised investors over $179 million but had just $9.8 million in their accounts.
As the two lost about $32 million in trades, Stewart and Sewall gave themselves about $28 million in performance fees.
The duo also used their brokerage, Blue Isle, to fraudulently convert investor money into about $45 million in markup fees. Plus, they spent the money on real estate, boats, cars, jewelry, and other luxury items.
The court ordered Sewall to pay about $93 million in restitution.
“Mr. Sewall and his co-defendants orchestrated an elaborate foreign currency investment fraud scheme that caused extensive financial harm to unsuspecting victims. He convinced investors by deceiving them with calculated lies about the profit potential and then created an illusion while he used their money for his own personal gain,” FBI Denver Special Agent In Charge Mark Michalek said in the release. “The FBI will continue to investigate and seek justice for individuals who fall victim to financial criminals who cheat and lie.”
Michael Young, a third partner involved with both Mediatrix and Blue Isle, pleaded guilty in the past to making a false statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission; he received a one-year prison sentence earlier this year.