On Wednesday, a man received a four-year prison sentence for defrauding investors out of more than $654,000. Elijah Goshert told people his sports betting fund lowered risk due to the development of a sophisticated algorithm.
Goshert regularly issued fake performance updates to investors that showed major profits. The 48-year-old actually used the money for personal expenses, keeping the fraud going from February 2017 until November 2023.
lied to people when they tried to withdraw money from the fund
Goshert lied to people when they tried to withdraw money from the fund. In one case, the person was told it wasn’t possible yet as a private equity firm was buying the operation. The Missouri man was ultimately caught and pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in October.
US District Judge Matthew Schelp ordered Goshert to repay the money to the dozen victims. One person committed $60,000 to the “Magellan Sports Fund” and wrote a letter to the court saying that his legal fees have exceeded $20,000 since he started pursuing the fraudster. Others described the psychological and emotional stress the scam has caused them.
The FBI was the lead investigator in the case, with Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson from the St. Louis division remarking that “scamming people who trust you is especially loathsome.”