Ramonan sentenced in wire fraud

A Ramona man who in April pled guilty to wire fraud was sentenced in Florida last week to 63 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $6.7 million in restitution.

Milan Martinic, who for nearly two years was a freelance writer for the

Ramona Sentinel

under the name Kean Keaton, was remanded to the custody of the marshal immediately after being sentenced on Oct. 21, said Steve Cole with the U.S. Department of Justice.

After completing his prison term, Martinic will be placed on three years of supervised release, said Cole, adding that he must serve at least 85 percent of the 63-month prison term.

According to Martinic’s plea agreement in April, from 1998 through 2005 he provided prospective investors with documents describing a business, Titan Global Strategies Ltd., which allegedly was involved in foreign currency exchange investments, U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill reported. Martinic provided investors with monthly statements purporting to show the balances of their accounts and the earnings that TGSL had obtained on their investments, stated a news release from O’Neill.

“In this manner, Martinic obtained more than $6 million from more than 20 victims, two of whom reside in the Jacksonville area,” O’Neill continued. “Several of the victims invested hundreds of thousands of dollars each with Martinic.”

Martinic invested only a small percentage of the money he obtained and deposited the investment funds into accounts over which he had control, O’Neill reported, adding that Martinic spent the money on vehicles, art, entertainment, travel and other goods and services for his personal use.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier prosecuted the case.