Local News in Brief : Scam Operator Gets 10-Year Sentence
A San Clemente man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for running a telephone marketing scam that bilked more than $2 million from hundreds of people who invested in precious metals contracts.
Michael Maddox, 40, pleaded guilty in May to five counts of fraud stemming from his two-year operation of Goldex International, a Seal Beach investment company, which also had an an office in Long Beach, that folded in 1983. Using high-pressure sales tactics, Goldex offered at least 400 investors across the country contracts for future delivery of gold, silver and other precious metals.
Prosecutors argued that the Goldex operation took money from new investors to pay off old investors.
U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall ordered Maddox to begin paying $1 million restitution during a five-year probation period after his release from prison.
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