Reimers Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering and Mail Fraud

Frances William "Bill" Reimers pleaded guilty Friday, March 23, in federal court in Oakland to mail fraud and money laundering for accepting millions of dollars from investors but never investing the cash.^[1]

Reimers’ scheme was based on lies he told his potential investors to induce them to give him their money.^[2] He asserted to his investors that he had invented a method for predicting the rise and fall of mutual fund values; he guaranteed his investments would earn at least 9 percent, and that he followed a conservative investment strategy through his company, Advisory Services Group.^[3]

However, instead of investing his clients' money, he diverted their funds to support two other businesses that he controlled, Plan Compliance Group, which handled third-party administration for school employees' retirement accounts, and Univest Capital Management, which handled third-party administration of insurance benefits for employees of federal government entities.^[4] Federal prosecutors alleged Reimers used the money he received to pay monthly dividends to his investment clients and to cash out clients who asked to close their accounts.^[5]

In December 2005, after allegations arose surrounding the crimes, Reimers attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest in a park, he survived.^[6] Reimers entered guilty pleas to six counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering before U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen in Oakland.^[7]

We have previously discussed the crime of money laundering, here.

Mail fraud is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1341. Under this section, it is illegal to devise a scheme to defraud and then use the mail to carry out the scheme. The punishment for committing mail fraud is a fine, imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both.

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^[1] Henry K. Lee, Danville man pleads guilty to fraud, money laundering, San Francisco Chronicle, March 23, 2007.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.