ORLANDO, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Edison Denizard, 41, Orlando, to four years and nine months in federal prison for participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
As part of Denizard’s sentence, the court also ordered him to forfeit the real property located at 7617 Toscana Boulevard in Orlando, which is traceable to proceeds of the offense.
In addition, the court entered a $1,677,794.57 money judgment against Denizard, which represents the proceeds that Denizard received as part of the offense.
Denizard had pleaded guilty on October 19, 2020.
According to court documents, between March 2016 and June 2017, Denizard raised millions of dollars from dozens of victims who believed that they were investing in specific music concerts through legitimate businesses owned by Denizard and a co-conspirator, Andres Fernandez.
Fernandez and Denizard lured investors by guaranteeing them large monetary returns and promising that all of the funds that they provided would be invested in events by top artists, including Drake, Garth Brooks, Pitbull, The Weeknd, and Maná. In fact, neither Denizard nor Fernandez was involved in most of the events.
Denizard used most of the funds that he had received from investors to pay fraudulent “investment returns” to earlier investors and for his own personal use, including to purchase a new lakefront residence, to make payments on his new luxury vehicle, and to stay in luxury hotels. The total amount of victims’ losses attributable to Denizard are $7,479,453.
Fernandez, who was the instigator of the scheme, previously pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud and was sentenced last year to 10 years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt. The forfeiture was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole Andrejko.