Man sentenced for concert investment scheme

ORLANDO, Fla. – A Florida man was sentenced Monday to four years and nine months in federal prison for his part in a multimillion-dollar concert investment scheme.

Edison Denizard, 41, of Orlando, was sentenced in Orlando federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. in addition to serving prison time, Denizard must forfeit his lakefront home and pay back nearly $1.7 million.

According to court documents, Denizard and co-conspirator Andres Fernandez raised millions of dollars from dozens of victims between March 2016 and June 2017. The victims believed that they were investing in events by top artists, including Drake, Garth Brooks, Pitbull, The Weeknd and Maná. But Denizard and Fernandez were not actually involved in most of the events, officials said.

Denizard used most of the funds that he had received from investors to pay fraudulent investment returns to earlier investors and for his own personal use, investigators said. Victims’ losses were at least $7.4 million, prosecutor said.

Fernandez was sentenced to 10 years in prison last year after pleading guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud.