A Great Neck man who, along with his brother, claimed to be a business partner of TV personality Jim Cramer, was sentenced to 57 months in prison last Thursday for stealing more than $2.2 million in a nationwide scheme in which they claimed to buy rare metals as a long-term investment but instead pocketed the money, law enforcement officials said.
Amner Borukhov, 34 of Great Neck, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Sandra Feurerstein in federal court in Central Islip to repay the $2.2 million to 70 victims, serve a three-year prison sentence followed by supervised release and to never again work in the financial or investment industry.
Borukhov reportedly apologized in court before his sentencing.
“I’d like…to acknowledge that what I did was wrong and I’d like to apologize to the court…and all the clients that were involved,” Borukhov said, according to Newsday.
Efforts to reach Jacob Laufer, Amner Borukhov’s attorney, were unavailing.
Feurerstein ordered Borukhov’s brother, Markiel Borukhov of Brooklyn, last month to repay $622,000 to victims and serve 24 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for his part in the scheme.
Between May 2009 and January 2011, Amner and Markiel Borukhov told would-be investors they would use their money to purchase precious metals such as palladium, law enforcement officials said.
Both men used aliases during the scheme and told victims they were business partners with Jim Cramer, a TV host who gives financial advice on a CNBC show called “Mad Money.”
Amner Borukhov went by the names “Alex Amner Borukhov” and “Avner Borikhov” and Markiel Borukhov went by the name “Mark Borukhov” during the scheme.
Amner and Markiel Borukhov used the money given by investors for personal expenses, officials said.
Amner Borukhov set up what was billed as a precious metals investment company in Great Neck called Gold Buillon Enterprises.
Law officials said the company did not purchase any metals and was only used to cheat victims out of money.
The brothers discovered they were being investigated by the FBI in early 2011 and fled to Casablanca, Morocco, where they lived for about 14 months, officials said.
Moroccan officials worked with the U.S. Eastern District Attorney’s office, the FBI and the Office of International Affairs to locate the brothers and arrested the two in May 2012.
The two returned to the United States and on October 9, 2013 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, thanked Moroccan officials for their help in the investigation.
“[The brothers] soon learned what should serve as a lesson to all criminals: you can run, but you cannot escape justice,” Lynch said in a statement.
George Venizelos, assistant director-in-charge for the FBI, also thanked Moroccan officials.
“The long arm of the law stretched all the way to Morocco as the defendants found,” Venizelos said. “This is the latest example of what happens when you steal and cheat from others to get ahead.”
Reach reporter Anthony O’Reilly by e-mail at aoreilly@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516.307.1045 x203 and on Twitter @ ORiled_Up. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
