Consultant Sentenced in Investment Scam

A former Southern California business consultant received a four-month prison sentence for conspiring to obstruct a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of financial advisor Reed E. Slatkin’s $593-million investment scam, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Daniel W. Jacobs helped stall the SEC for more than a year by pretending to represent a Swiss brokerage holding hundreds of millions of dollars in funds from Slatkin investors, according to his plea agreement with the government.

Jacobs, 63, who pleaded guilty and cooperated extensively with prosecutors, is expected to serve his time near his Michigan home, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Wilner.

At Jacobs’ sentencing Monday in Los Angeles, U.S. District Judge Margaret Morrow also ordered him to repay $450,000 to victims of Slatkin’s schemes.

Slatkin, whose clients included Hollywood stars and wealthy Santa Barbara residents, pleaded guilty to 15 criminal counts and is serving a 14-year sentence at a privately run minimum-security prison in Taft, Calif.

-- E. Scott Reckard