Florida man sentenced to 6 years in federal prison for orchestrating investment scam tied to Nebraska case

(WOWT) - A Florida man will spend six years in federal prison after he defrauded more than 10,000 victims of more than $55 million.

Michael Glaspie, 72, of Palm City, Fla., was sentenced Monday, about seven months after pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for orchestrating a $55 million investment fraud scheme that allegedly involved a man indicted last summer by a federal grand jury in Nebraska.

Glaspie operated the scam under the name “CoinDeal,” telling investors it would yield extremely high returns once “a consortium of wealthy buyers” acquired companies run by Neil Suresh Chandran, 51, of Las Vegas. Those companies included ViRSE, Free Vi Lab, Studio Vi Inc., ViDelivery Inc., ViMarket Inc., and Skalex USA Inc.

Glaspie falsely promised even if returns from CoinDeal failed to materialize, he would repay investors with 7% annual interest over three years, claiming he had an exclusive contract with AT&T to distribute government-funded phones; and a BBB app in development that would yield more than $400 million in revenue.

Glaspie then paid CoinDeal investor funds to Chandran — and use nearly $2.5 million of investors’ money to pay employees, trade cryptocurrency, and buy a life-insurance policy for a family member — all after promising he woudn’t do so.

Chandran was arrested June 29, 2002, in Los Angeles after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in Nebraska about two weeks earlier. He faces three counts of wire fraud and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property for his role in the scheme, according to an earlier DOJ release.

According to the DOJ, about 100 different assets from bank accounts to real estate to luxury vehicles — including 39 Tesla vehicles — were subject to forfeiture as proceeds of the fraud.

Chandran faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud counts and up to 10 years in prison for each count of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions.

The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office agents, with help from field offices in Omaha, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald J. Kleine for the District of Nebraska prosecuted the case along with Assistant Chief William E. Johnston and Trial Attorney Tian Huang of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

VICTIM ASSISTANCE

Anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of fraud related to the case against Chandran is encouraged to visit the DOJ website to submit their impact statement and learn more about their rights.