Posted on: Saturday, February 16, 2002

Man pleads guilty in fraud scheme

Advertiser staff

A man accused of duping investors of $350,000 in a phony investment scheme has pleaded guilty in federal court to one-count of mail fraud .

David T. Marantette III, 62, operated an investment company known as Troubador, Inc., on Kaua'i from late 1995 through June of 1999 and developed a scheme to defraud investors, according to U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo.

The scheme included various false representations, including soliciting investments, without registering with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or the Securities and Exchange Commission, as required by law, federal prosecutors said.

Marantette sent literature to various investors claiming falsely that he had a track record of profitable trading, prosecutors said.

Through his fraudulent scheme, Marantette managed to bring $350,000 into his company from investors who had been duped, according to the prosecutors.

Marantette pleaded guilty Wednesday and is scheduled to be sentenced June 24 before U.S. District Court Judge Helen Gillmor. He faces five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and an order to provide restitution not to exceed $350,000.