A McKinney man who ran a Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $13 million in restitution to his victims, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.

Patrick O. Howard – owner of Insured Liquidity Partners CGF I, Insured Liquidity Partners CGF II, and Capital Ventures, LLC – pleaded guilty to securities fraud in November 2020. He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle and taken into custody immediately after the hearing.

In plea papers, Mr. Howard, 49, admitted to running a Ponzi-type scheme, recruiting more than 100 investors to purchase $13 million in membership units for $50,000 apiece.

His companies promised investors 12% annual returns, paid quarterly, and “insured liquidity.”

However, instead of properly investing the money, the companies issued phony account statements and paid any investors who elected to receive their earnings…

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