Fake European noble to plead guilty in $6M Ponzi scheme
A San Fernando Valley man who pretended to be European nobility has agreed to plead guilty to allegations that he operated a Ponzi scheme that targeted the Filipino community, including many elderly church parishioners, taking nearly $6 million from them in the process.
Sylvein William Maximilian D'Habsburg XVII of West Hills will plead guilty to one count of wire fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a news release.
While D'Habsburg's name is reminiscent of European nobility, he instead had his name legally changed to this, and 'he is not a descendant of the Holy Roman emperors and the Austrian emperors,' a DOJ spokesperson confirmed to KTLA.
The 48-year-old pseudo-noble apparently didn't have the royals' fortunes either, as he took nearly $6 million from people who thought they were investing in artificial intelligence technology that could predict the future and detect a COVID-19 infection using only a video recording, the DOJ said.
Using two companies, Wild Rabbit Technologies LLC and BAI Intelligence LLC, D'Habsburg sought investors to join what he said was about $500 million in investments 'from retired pro athletes and other noteworthy people, such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Steve Wozniak,' the release said.
The money he received from investors was supposed to be used to obtain patents and hire employees, but prosecutors said it was instead spent on rare antiques and luxury cars, such as a 1933 Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental Sedanca de Ville by Barker.
Sotheby's says that vehicle sold for £162,400, which equates to nearly $206,000.
Once D'Habsburg enters his guilty plea, he will face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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