Politics & Government

Financial Planner Who Used Cranberry Mailing Address Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Fraud, False Tax Returns

John D. Wosotowsky is convicted of stealing about $2.5 million from clients.

A Monaca man has been sentenced in federal court to 97 months in prison and restitution of $2,293,045.66 after he was convicted of mail fraud and filing false income tax returns, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill imposed the sentence on John D. Wosotowsky, 51, of Monaca Road.

According to information presented to the court, Wosotowsky was a certified licensed financial planner who worked for MetLife Securities. During a period of more than 10 years, he stole about $2.5 million from 25 people, many who were quite elderly, Hickton said in a statement.

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Eight of his victims were in their 80s and six were in their 70s. Wosotowsky used the money to feed his gambling addiction. He told his victims that he would invest their money in a safe high-return investment product under the MetLife umbrella of companies.

When the clients followed his advice, he put their money into an account that he owned and controlled called Equity I & R. He often forged change of address notices and requests for disbursements.

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To keep clients and MetLife in the dark, Hickton said Wosotowsky used a Cranberry Township address that was just a mail drop.

To lull his victims into believing their investments were safe, Wosotowsky sent out regular statements that were fabricated, Hickton said.

He would send money to clients who had products that required monthly checks. However, all of the money he repaid during the scheme to victims came from other victims.

Prior to imposing sentence, Cohill said this was a serious offense and—although Wosotowsky was addicted to gambling— it did not justify giving him a reduced sentence.

Assistant United States Attorney Nelson P. Cohen prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Unit aided in the investigation.


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