Texas man gets 40 years for phony annuities scheme

Robert J. Mangiafico Jr. of Allen, Texas, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for defrauding elderly women out of nearly $500,000 in a phony annuity scheme. Mr. Mangiafico was sentenced Sept. 18 after more than two days of testimony in the 380th District Court in Collin County, Texas. He pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and theft. The sentencing wraps up about two years of legal action against him, dating back to his indictment in 2011. The scheme dates back nearly seven years, according to the indictment. In 2007 and 2008, Mr. Mangiafico convinced several elderly widows to sell off assets and transfer their proceeds either to him or to a Frisco, Texas-based company called Security Financial Services LLC, according to the indictment and the Texas State Securities Board. The women were told that their money would be used to purchase annuities, but the money ended up going into bank accounts held in Mr. Mangiafico's name, as well as others. Though the indictment refers only to four victims, who lost some $458,361, the total amount taken from victims was $655,000, according to the Texas State Securities Board. “Appropriations were without the consent of said owners, in that consent was given by a person who by reason of advanced age was known to the defendant to have diminished capacity to make informed and rational decisions,” according to the 2011 indictment. A call to Coleman Sylvan, Mr. Mangiafico's attorney, was not returned.