DETROIT – Jeffrey Royer was sentenced today to 71 months in federal prison after having pleaded guilty to defrauding multiple investors by falsely representing how their funds would be used and fabricating documents about their investments’ performance, United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. announced. Royer was an FBI agent from 1996 to 2001.
Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan, Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Royer told investors their funds would be used for foreign currency – known as forex – and commodity future trading. Instead, Royer diverted some of the collected funds to personal expenses, made false assurances to investors that their funds were protected from losses and, ultimately, fabricated earnings statements showing significant gains when, in fact, investors were losing money.
“Once a respected member of law enforcement, Jeffrey Royer now stands as a repeat fraudster who abandoned every principle that badge was supposed to represent,” said Gorgon. “Fraudsters like Royer abuse the trust others place in them and the positions they held. Abuse of the public trust will not be tolerated.”
“By choosing fraud over the oath he once took, Royer betrayed both the public and the law enforcement community,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “The sentence imposed today sends a clear message that misconduct, particularly by those who once held positions of trust, will be met with decisive action. I also want to recognize the dedicated work of FBI Detroit personnel and all of our partners whose persistence helped bring this case to sentencing. The FBI will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who engage in schemes that endanger the public’s financial security.”
Royer was also ordered to pay restitution of $575,999.58 to his victims and serve three years on supervised release following completing of his custodial sentence.
This is Royer’s second federal felony conviction. In 2012, Royer was released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons after serving a multi-year prison sentence for racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering
Those charges stemmed from Royer’s corrupt use of his position as an FBI agent to steal confidential criminal law enforcement information about companies under investigation by the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Royer passed that confidential information along to a “short seller” trader in exchange for the promise of cash and future employment. Using the confidential information provided by Royer, that trader established short positions in the stocks of companies under investigation.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Yahkind.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Eastern District of Michigan — U.S. Department of Justice press release.