Ponte Vedra Beach resident sentenced to 9 years for fraud

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mark Steven Szekely, 54, of Ponte Vedra Beach was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for wire fraud and ordered him to pay nearly a half-million dollars in restitution to his victims.

Szekely pleaded guilty on Oct. 14, 2014.

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According to court documents and testimony presented during the sentencing hearing, Szekely swindled at least 17 individuals out of $454,972.65. Among the victims were his friends, members of his church, his children's teachers and a 17-year-old high school student who had saved money from babysitting.

As part of his scheme, Szekely represented that he was an accomplished author with connections to entertainment lawyers in New York City that could assist the victims with copyrighting, publishing, and/or producing their works into Broadway plays or films. In reality, Szekely had no such connections, and instead, fraudulently created a list of fictitious lawyers and other professionals.

In addition, several of the victims were defrauded into investing in "annuities" tied to a book Szekely had written and was allegedly being produced into a movie. Court testimony established that Szekely had not worked for approximately 12 years and had supported himself and his family with the proceeds of his fraud.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation.