JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Ponte Vedra man has been sentenced to five years in prison for wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering, according to a news release Tuesday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Bryan Brewer, 44, was also ordered to pay $8.9 million in restitution. He pleaded guilty to charges on Aug. 1.
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According to court documents, Brewer engaged in two fraud schemes that resulted in him receiving more than $8 million. In one scheme, Brewer solicited an individual to invest in a company that manufactured paddle boards by the name of USBoardco.
As part of the scheme, the news release said, Brewer sent the victim copies of bank statements, tax returns and other financial documents that had been falsified to inflate the sales, profits, income, and bank account balance for the company. In the first case, the victim invested over $1 million.
The second scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, related to real estate in Seminole County. In 2012, an investor loaned more than $4 million to assist Brewer in the purchase of the property. In return, the investor obtained a mortgage on the property.
A couple of years later, Brewer defrauded a bank into lending his companies $7.75 million that involved Brewer forging documents and using a fake email account that he had created for his investor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.