A Denver man accused of swindling 26 investors out of millions of dollars pleaded guilty Monday to racketeering charges.
Mark Jay Jackson, 55, told investors he was a “day trader” of stocks and he had made a profit on trading shares in initial public and secondary offerings.
He promised investors a return of 12 percent to 26 percent, regardless of how successful he was with the trading.
The grand jury said that from approximately April 1995 through June 1, 2009, Jackson received $32 million from investors.
Last April, the Colorado Division of Securities sought and received a court order to place Jackson and his companies under receivership.
C. Randall Lewis was appointed receiver.
The grand jury alleged that during the first three months of the receivership, Jackson admitted to Lewis that he had used new investors’ money to pay off prior investors.
Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Act, in which he admitted he was associated with an enterprise that engaged in racketeering.
Jackson, who will be sentenced May 25, faces a minimum sentence of probation or a maximum of 20 years in prison, depending on the judge’s decision.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
