Andre Mitchell, from Belleville, Illinois - ripped off hundreds of trusting investors in the St. Louis area and all over the country before going crazy on a bank robbery spree. Mr. Mitchell was sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to repay more than $3 million, the U.S. Attorney's office announced today.
Andre Mitchell, 43, was former president and CEO of Global Power Global Wealth Enterprises, which promised real estate riches and crazy returns to his investor of up to 1,500%.
Mr. Mitchell used all the tricks - the money parties, a fancy cruise, invitation-only private investment offers and a house tour showing off rehabbing projects that didn't exist, the company was just a modern day pyramid scheme, prosecutors said.
Early investors got their profits through money paid in by later investors. and Mitchell used that money to pay himself, family members and employees, and the pyramid eventually collapsed in 2005. After everything fell apart Andre Mitchell robbed three banks in Kentucky.
In February, Andre Mitchell pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering in federal court in Kentucky, where he faced the bank robbery charges. Andre Mitchell was sentenced to 168 months in prison today, ordered to pay $3,017,771 restitution to victims and $15,436 to banks, and will spend five years on supervised release after he gets out of federal prison.
Mr. Henry Allen, 63, 5500 block of Clemens in St. Louis, also pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering and was sentenced to 5 years in the big house, last September