Florida congressman loses $18M in scheme

Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson lost $18 million in a scheme by a Virginia man that involved more than 100 victims, the congressman’s office confirmed Monday.

Fox News reports the man who ran the scheme, William Dean Chapman, was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison. Under the scheme, clients would turn over their stocks to Chapman as collateral for a loan, and Chapman would allow the client to borrow about 90 percent of the stocks' value. Chapman said if the stocks did badly, borrowers could walk away with the loan money, but if they did well, they would repay the loans with interest.

However, Chapman sold the stocks and therefore had no way to fulfill his obligations. According to Fox News, Grayson was the primary victim in the scheme.

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