Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who stole $650,000 from investors in a sports betting fund to 48 months in prison and ordered him to repay the money.
Elijah A. Goshert, 48, defrauded investors in the “Magellan Sports Fund” from at least Feb. 1, 2017, through Nov. 15, 2023. Goshert falsely claimed that he was using a “sophisticated computer algorithm” that substantially reduced betting risks. Goshert sent false performance updates claiming substantial investment profits while spending most of the victims’ investments on unauthorized expenses. Goshert stole about $654,861 from at least 12 victims.
In a letter to the court, one of Goshert’s victims said he lost $60,000 and spent another $20,000 in legal fees over years trying to get his money back. Another, who invested $50,000, wrote that he’d suffered severe emotional and psychological damage due to chronic anxiety and stress and the betrayal of trust by someone he considered a close friend. Goshert repeatedly lied to the victim about why he couldn’t access his money, even falsely claiming that he’d sold the betting fund to a private equity firm.
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman said Goshert’s crime was “a yearslong sophisticated scheme” not a “one-off lapse in judgment.”
“Scamming people who trust you is especially loathsome,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Unfortunately, the way Elijah Goshert targeted his victims is not unique. When white-collar criminals exploit the trust that already exists within their social circles, it’s known as affinity fraud.”
Goshert pleaded guilty in October in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of wire fraud.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman prosecuted the case.