A Newport Beach man pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme and faces up to 50 years in prison, with sentencing set for Nov. 16.
Brandon Walton Stewart, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, 22 counts of using untrue statements in the purchase or sale of a security, 125 counts of money laundering, 38 check-kiting counts, and multiple counts of tax fraud, according to court records.
As part of the plea deal reached Friday, a judge promised not to sentence the defendant to more than 50 years. Stewart is expected to be ordered to pay a $26,594,810 fine, according to court records.
Stewart was arrested in Dallas and extradited back to Orange County in May 2015 to face charges that he ran a $13.5 million Ponzi scheme from April of 2009 through January 2013.
Stewart promised four victims he would invest their money in stocks such as Facebook, but he instead spent it on trips to Las Vegas on a private jet to gamble, according to prosecutors, who said one of his victims was a 92-year-old relative.
He also kited $3 million in bogus checks from closed accounts or ones with insufficient funds, prosecutors said.