CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert, along with Nathan Thomas Gray of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Keith Fixel, Inspector-in-Charge of the United States Postal Inspection Service, and Jim Long, Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Insurance, announce that Christopher William Hartsell, 41, a former licensed insurance agent, has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment for 87 months and ordered to pay restitution of more than $2 million to his elderly victims.

Hartsell pled guilty in August 2007 to securities fraud and mail fraud for defrauding elderly investors of over $2 million, and to money laundering in connection with the movement of the stolen funds. The sentence was imposed today by US District Judge Richard L. Voorhees of the Western District of North Carolina.

According to a Bill of Information, Hartsell of Huntersville, was an insurance agent who induced his insurance clients to invest their annuities with a purported company called “American Security Trust” by promising them guaranteed rates of returns in connection with “private mortgages.” In reality, and unbeknownst to his victims, Hartsell controlled “American Security Trust” and used his victim’s money to day-trade, rather than to invest in private mortgages. After receiving their insurance checks, Hartsell would move the money through a series of bank accounts – from an account in the name of “American Securities Trust” to an account in the name of “Freedom Lifestyles” to his day-trading account in the name of “Freedom Lifestyles – and then daytrade with his victim’s money.

According to the Bill of Information, Harstell sent his investors bogus monthly statements from “American Security Trust” that falsely showed account balances and monthly interest earned. When investors demanded funds from their supposed accounts, Hartsell would pay them with funds from other victims in the manner of a ponzi scheme. According to the Bill of Information, Hartsell collected more than $2 million from investors and lost nearly all his investor’s money through poor day-trading.

US Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said, “Hartsell’s elderly victims suffered terribly from the loss of their hard-earned savings, stolen from them by a trusted agent. Now Hartsell will have 87 long months in prison to think about the consequences of his fraud. Today’s sentence should send a strong signal: It’s open season on the purveyors of fraud. Those who cheat and steal beware: federal agents and prosecutors have got you in our sights. The party’s over. It’s time to pay up. ”

The U.S. Attorney credits the North Carolina Department of Insurance for its investigation and for bringing the matter to the attention of federal law enforcement, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service for the investigation that resulted in the filing of these charges. The government is represented in this matter by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt W. Meyers of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division in Charlotte.

Christopher William Hartsell, Age 41
Huntersville , North Carolina