Rockville Owner of Advertising Investment Companies Sentenced to Over Six Years in $6.2 Million Fraud Scheme

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FraudulentlyObtained $6.2 Million from Over 60 Investors in Two Years
GREENBELT, MD—U.S. District Judge RogerW. Titus sentenced Edward J. Lawson, age 67, of Rockville, Maryland, today to78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wirefraud in connection with a $6.2 million fraudulent investment scheme. JudgeTitus also ordered Lawson to pay $4,862,428.72 in restitution.
The sentence was announced by UnitedStates Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agentin Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; andSpecial Agent in Charge Rick A. Raven of the Internal Revenue Service-CriminalInvestigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.
“Edward J. Lawson’s promises of‘automatic revenue’ and ‘guaranteed results’ were entirely fraudulent,” saidU.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Investors should be wary of investmentopportunities that seem too good to be true.”
“Today’s sentencing is a direct resultof the excellent partnership between the IRS, FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’soffice in combating violations of federal law,” said Rick A. Raven, SpecialAgent in Charge IRS-Criminal Investigation, Washington DC Field Office. “Thissentence should serve as a deterrent to those who might contemplate similarfraudulent actions.”
According to his plea, Lawson was thepresident of Automated Revenue Creation LLC and Guaranteed Results AdvertisingLLC (collectively, GRA). GRA represented to investors that it providedadvertising through “Narrow Cast television commercials,” purportedlyconsisting of advertising displayed on LCD television monitors located atconvenience stores and gas station pumps.
From May 2006 to September 2008, Lawsonmade presentations to potential GRA investors at hotels in the Washington, D.C.metro area and at a GRA office in Rockville, Maryland. Initially, an investorwho purchased a screen for $15,800 was guaranteed a monthly return over a10-year period that began at $3,000 and escalated to approximately $30,000after 15 months. Later in the scheme, an investor who purchased a screen for$23,800 was guaranteed a monthly return of $3,000 and escalated toapproximately $15,000 after 12 months. In GRA’s final phase, an investor whopurchased a screen for $89,800 was guaranteed a monthly return of $13,950 overa five- or 10- year period.
Lawson made several misrepresentationsin soliciting GRA investors, including that: Lawson had over 30 yearsexperience as an entrepreneur; Lawson had invested approximately $1.5 millionof his own money into GRA; at all times, the GRA screens were generatingsufficient revenue to meet the revenue projections promised to investors; thescreens were generating so much revenue that Lawson encouraged investors toreinvest their earnings rather than cash out; advertisers had provided checksrepresenting payments to GRA, which Lawson distributed at investor meetings;and Lawson had issued payments to investors via checks, which bounced due toconditions beyond Lawson’s control.
As a result of the scheme, GRA received$6.2 million in investments from over 60 investors.
This law enforcement action is part ofPresident Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. PresidentObama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force towage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate andprosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from abroad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general,and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear apowerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force isworking to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with stateand local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes,ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes,combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recoverproceeds for victims of financial crimes.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosensteinthanked the FBI and IRS-CI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosensteinpraised Assistant U.S. Attorney Christen Sproule, who prosecuted the case.