Kent Maerki, 78, of Scottsdale could spend up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud on Thursday at a federal district court in Norfolk, Virginia.
Court documents claim Maerki and his co-conspirators promised retirees across Virginia they would earn hundreds of dollars each month for investing up to $25,000 in a franchised dental office that they would not have to manage. Advertisements for Dental Support Plus LLC claimed a five-year track record of annual profits up to 40% for its investors, which the indictment said was not true.
The documents state Maerki was actually using some of the funds he collected to pay off previous investors in the scheme while siphoning $4 million in investor funds to personal accounts for himself and his co-conspirators between January 2012 and July 2014.
Meanwhile, the indictment states Maerki was running a separate Phoenix-based business called Janus Spectrum LLC that sold spectrum licenses to investors, claiming that wireless carriers like Sprint, AT&T and Verizon would need to buy them up from investors to enhance their broadband internet coverage. The court documents say investors in the schemes lost a total of $23 million.
Maerki will face a judge for sentencing on March 15, 2021. In addition to prison time, other penalties could include steep fines, forfeiture of assets and a supervised release term of three years.
