A Denver man accused of swindling 26 investors out of millions of dollars pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges.
Mark Jay Jackson, 55, told investors that he was a “day trader” of stocks and that during his career he had made a profit on trading shares in initial public and secondary offerings.
Jackson promised investors a return of 12 to 26 percent, regardless of how successful he was with the trading.
The grand jury said from approximately April 1995 through June 1, 2009, Jackson received $32 million from investors.
During that period, Jackson reported profits from his trading ranging anywhere from $10 million to $13 million, according to the indictment.
In April 2009, 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.
Prosecutors said that Jackson was able to obtain investments by telling people that he had connections with brokerage houses in several different national and international markets that gave him access to get large blocks of shares in IPO and secondary offerings.
He claimed that he was able to purchase the stocks at a discount, and that the per-share price would increase within days, or even hours, allowing him to sell for a profit.
He told potential investors he needed additional money or capital to buy more shares in the offerings.
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 on 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
