St. Cloud man sentenced in Ponzi scheme
A man detectives say murdered a Kissimmee couple in 2018 has been found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for the crime.
A jury Tuesday found Federico Gondola, 41, guilty of two counts of First Degree Murder with a Firearm, Burglary of a Dwelling with Assault/Battery with a Firearm and Robbery with a Firearm in the death of Roosevelt and Janette Dixon, ages 74 and 72.
Deputies found the Dixons conducting a wellness check at their Meadow Oak Circle home on July 14, 2018. Deputies found them deceased, and autopsies revealed the suspect killed them both with a gunshot wound to the head.
The following week, the Melbourne Police Department contacted the Osceola County Sheriff's Office with information from a potential witness to the homicide. The witness identified Gondola, a Colombian man who had done work in the couple’s home, and told investigators Gondola initially approached them with a plan to commit a robbery against the victims, but the witness declined. According to the State Attorney’s Office, investigators knew Gondola had contacted Mr. Dixon several times before his murder, and took him into custody.
During the six-day trial, a witness testified that after the murders took place, Gondola met them at a 7-Eleven to ask for assistance in disposing of evidence. Surveillance video at the 7-Eleven and a 911 phone call verified the witness's story. Additionally, deputies found the murder weapon under a mattress belonging to Gondola’s girlfriend.
After a six-day trial, a jury found Gondola guilty on all four counts charged. Despite prosecutors originally asking to seek the death penalty in 2019, then rescinding it in 2021, Judge John Beamer sentenced Gondola to life in prison.
St. Cloud man sentenced in Ponzi scheme
A St. Cloud man has been sentenced to 24 years in federal prison by a U.S. District judge as part of an eight-figure investment scheme.
Avinash Singh, pled guilty to five counts of wire fraud and money laundering, and has been ordered Singh to forfeit $57 million in proceeds, and the real property he purchased with them.
According to court documents, Singh operated Orlando-based Highrise Advantage, LLC. From February 2013 to September 2020, Singh received more the $57 million from over 1,100 victims who believed that they were making investments in Forex (foreign currency exchanges) through Highrise. To induce his victims to invest, Singh claimed that he had a proven track record of success as a Forex trader, that he was going to use the funds for further investments, and that he would “guarantee” that his victims would not lose any funds for any trading losses. None of these representations were true.
Rather than invest his victims’ funds in the promised trades, Singh used funds from one investor to pay amounts owed to another investor, the court said. Singh reportedly misappropriated at least $45 million of the victims’ “investments” in the form of payments to other investors and also spent millions of dollars in personal expenses, including the purchase of real estate, retail purchases, phone bills, events, dining, and reserving music studio space to record music with his band, what IRS Special Agent Ron Loecker called a way to, “Live like a pop star.”
“This case epitomizes selfish greed at an astonishing level. Mr. Singh tried to use the proceeds of his Ponzi scheme while popping the dreams of his victim investors,” Loecker said. “This sentencing shows that we will go to great lengths to ensure those who try to illegally place themselves above others are held accountable.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General, the St. Cloud IRS Federal Financial Crimes Task Force, and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service.
