Local Realtor pleads guilty to multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme
Xerxes WilsonA Wilmington real estate agent pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
Carl Chen, who was a licensed real estate broker in Delaware for more than 30 years, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year.
He callously targeted and defrauded vulnerable people, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a written statement.
Prosecutors said Chen solicited his Re/Max Sunvest Realty clients and others for a total of $6.6 million between 1991 and 2017. He told them he would invest the money in real estate with 10 to 15 percent returns annually for investors.
Around 2013, the scheme began to unravel because Chen couldn't continue payments to the original investors. Around then, he started raising the final $3.3 million from 21 victims but only invested $11,000 in real estate, using the rest of the cash to pay off his first investors.
He declared bankruptcy in 2017.
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.
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