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Springfield man sentenced for $1.1M Ponzi scheme

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A Springfield man was sentenced yesterday for a $1.1 million Ponzi scheme.

Christopher Hanson, 54, was ordered to spend two years and nine months in federal prison and pay full restitution to his victims, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Hanson pleaded guilty in September 2015 to wire fraud and money laundering. Through his company Hanson Holdings LLC, he was responsible for $1.1 million in losses incurred by three victims.

Describing his services as an investment opportunity, Hanson told two of his victims he would use their investments to purchase collateralized mortgage obligations. Hanson claimed he’d obtain a line of credit against the CMOs and that both victims would receive their original investment back plus a sizable dividend within months. Hanson told his third victim a $100,000 investment used to buy bonds and securities would generate a 250 percent return, according to the release.

Hanson’s financial records revealed he did not use the investment money to buy securities or a CMO as promised. Instead, he used the money to pay off unrelated debt or earlier investors who were asking him for their money back.

Hanson also faces an ongoing, unrelated fraud case in Apple Valley, Minn., for which a civil suit has been filed. He also is awaiting state charges from Greene County Circuit Court for a similar, but unrelated, fraud scheme, according to the release.

In August 2012, then Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan issued a cease-and-desist order to Hanson for selling unregistered securities.

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