Michael James Burns, Jr., 51, San Francisco, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy to a term of 87 months in prison, a Special Assessment of $100, Restitution in the amount of $445,532.45, and Supervised Release for 3 years. Burns was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to wire fraud/money laundering.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan M. Archer, the government stated it would have proved at trial that during the summer of 2008, Burns initiated BMJ Capital in California to allegedly finance various business projects. In September 2008, Burns met one of the owners of Strategic Land Company, LLC in San Francisco, California. The owner, hereafter referred to as “T.S.”, was a partner and owner of Strategic Land Company, LLC (SLC) based in Lakeside, Montana. Burns entered into negotiations with SLC and represented that he had over $100 million in assets and was interested in funding a real estate development project in Lakeside.
On October 15, 2008, Burns entered into a signed agreement with “T.S.” and SLC, promising to make a $25 million credit line available to complete the final phases of the land development project. SLC agreed to provide a 1% up front commitment fee of $250,000. Under the agreement, this advance fee was fully refundable by October 29, 2008, if the parties had not finalized their financing documents. On October 17, 2008, “T.S.” directed Glacier Bank, Kalispell, Montana to wire $250,000 to Burns‘ BMJ Capital bank account at Wachovia Bank, San Francisco, California.
On October 27, 2008, no credit had been extended and Burns suggested altering the agreement where he would “buy into” the company.
In November 2008, SLC entered into the revised agreement after meeting with Burns and his attorney in San Francisco. Under the new agreement, Burns agreed to wire $33 million into the SLC Glacier Bank account. From November through January 2009, Burns emailed several excuses as to why the money was never sent.
Ultimately Burns ceased contact with SLC and never provided any financing.
Burns‘ attorney had previously vouched for Burns‘ $100 million in assets, but later stated the document he relied on appeared as if it had or could be manipulated. One of Burns‘ “employees” stated that it became clear that Burns collected advance fees, but never provided any of the promised financing. A financial analysis of the bank records shows that BMJ Capital collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from individuals and businesses between 2007 and 2008. At the time, Burns was on parole for a similar offense in Hawaii.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that Burns will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, Burns does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Burns took a lot of people for a lot of money but wasn’t anywhere near as destructive as another con man he was connected to on Kauai.
The web page will show Burns Kauai crime spree none of which was reported in the paper, as well as article on the other con man’s influence that show backgrounds, as well as excerpts of his arrest records and a missing person’s report contradicting what was reported.
SLC wasn’t his only mark. He took us for $5,000.00 right before he was arrested by the FBI. Who knows how many individuals and businesses he defrauded. He got off easy if you ask me.
Sorry for you J.Cano. He continues his ways even from behind bars
He is still telling people that he is a successful financiere.
If you go to http://www.conartistskauai.info it will show his crime spree on Kauai in Hawaii that was completely unreported in the paper. He was furloughed in time to assess a large landholdings value that would sell to Steve Case of AOL around the same time AOL was merging with Time Warner. That had another con man’s hands all over it, this one a fugitive from the law with a warrant out for his arrest.