Man Gets 25 Years in Prison for Stockbroker Fraud

Philadelphia, PAFormer stockbroker George Georgiou was sentenced recently to 25 years in prison for his role in international stock broker fraud that led to losses of more than $55 million, Bloomberg reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">In February, a federal jury convicted Georgiou of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy for his role in the manipulation of four companies' shares. In addition to the prison term, US District Judge Robert Kelly ordered him to pay back the more than $55 million, a US attorney said in an e-mailed statement.

"Kelly stated when imposing the sentence that the evidence was overwhelming and that the defendant's perjury was stunning," the attorney said.

Lawyers for Georgiou said that the former stockbroker lived "an honorable life, full of good works," which was impacted by some "lapses in judgment."

Georgiou, who was banned as a broker in Canada in 1995, was arrested in September 2008 after he agreed to pay an undercover FBI agent a kickback to bribe brokers to buy $10 million in Northern Ethanol, according to the news provider.