Idaho Independent Contractor Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Florida Businessman and His Company

January 27, 2010 - Barret Akers, 47, of Boise, Idaho, pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud a Florida business executive and the company which he worked for out of more than $7,000, announced U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Moss of the District of Idaho and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. The defendant pleaded guilty before the Honorable Candy W. Dale in U.S. District Court in Boise, Idaho.

According to documents filed with the court, Akers was a self-employed provider of investor relations and stock promotion services. From approximately February 2009 until June 2009, Akers solicited investor relations work from a Florida businessman and his company. To induce the Florida businessman and his company to hire and compensate him, Akers falsely represented that he had a contact at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who could take, and had taken, steps to mitigate any actual or potential trouble the Florida businessman and his company had or may have had with the SEC. Akers admitted that he falsely represented that his contact could mitigate actual or potential trouble by removing from the SEC’s files potentially harmful documents relating to the Florida businessman and his company, and by making the documents unavailable to SEC investigators. To further his fraudulent scheme, Akers made false representations through interstate wire communications with the Florida businessman.

The charge to which Akers pleaded guilty carries maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for April 08, 2010, at 9:00 a.m., before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in U.S. District Court, Boise, Idaho. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Marc Levin of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, assisted by Criminal Chief Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr., of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho. The case was investigated by the FBI and the SEC’s Office of Inspector General.