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SALT LAKE CITY — An Orem man accused of bilking investors in his real estate firm out of $16 million over six years in a Ponzi scheme admitted to securities fraud Wednesday.
A grand jury last May indicted Chad Roger Deucher on 18 counts of wire fraud and one count of fraud in connection with the purchase and sale of securities. In a deal with federal prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of securities.
Deucher is scheduled to be sentenced in September. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine.
Deucher, who owned Marquis Properties, used direct solicitations, radio ads, a website, and real estate and retirement seminars to find investors, promising returns as high as 22 percent, according to court documents.
In all, Deucher collected $28 million from 250 investors, including 170 who lost about $16 million from 2010 to 2016, court papers say.
Prosecutors alleged he transferred several million dollars of investors' money into business and personal interests unrelated to the acquisition or rehabilitation of property. He also allegedly failed to tell investors his company was insolvent.
