Aboulmalik Negedu, 50, formerly of Stratford, Connecticut, was sentenced to serve five years in prison for stealing more than $120,000 from friends and others who pooled their money expecting to invest in real estate.
The defendant was sentenced in Bridgeport Superior Court where he was convicted after a trial of two counts of Larceny in the First Degree and one count of Larceny in the Second Degree.
The Honorable Eddie Rodriguez sentenced Negedu to a total effective sentence of 20 years incarceration, suspended after 5 years served, and 5 years of probation. In addition, Negedu was ordered to pay $131,000 in restitution.
Negedu was convicted of embezzling more than $120,000 between July 2005 and December 2006 through unauthorized withdrawals and transfers from the bank accounts of Like Minds Investment Group LLC. Like Minds was formed by 11 individuals and Negedu to pool their money to invest in real estate. Negedu was given access to the Like Minds bank accounts as its president and withdrew the funds to pay his own expenses.
The case was prosecuted by the Statewide Prosecution Bureau of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney following the referral of a complaint initially made to the State of Connecticut Department of Banking.
