A US man who stole more than US$26 million through mining and real estate investment scams was sentenced yesterday to more than six years in federal prison and ordered to pay his victims US$23.5 million in restitution, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The report said that Alberto DoCouto, 68, created a number of false business fronts from 2001 through 2007 and then “told investors that he and his companies were engaged in exploring and developing a series of lucrative mining claims in Peru, Guyana, California and Nevada,” according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden.
The stocks he vended were worthless because the mining projects never existed, according to the statement.
DoCouto reportedly purchased a 6,000-square-foot home in Henderson’s affluent Lake Las Vegas and several luxury automobiles, according to Bogden. All of those assets were seized by the government, the Las Vegas Review-Journal said.
