A $13.5 Million Swindle Leads to Prison Time

Alvin Wilkinson once worked as director of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Today, he’s facing seven years in prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Wilkinson swindled millions from unsuspecting investors over a 17-year period. He faced charges of mail fraud and wire fraud in 2017. Among the at least 30 victims of his Ponzi-type scheme were friends, family, and colleagues.

Alvin Wilkinson Receives 88-Month Sentence

Wilkinson had also founded Sharon-based Chicago Index Partners LP and Wilkinson Financial Opportunity Fund LP. He told his new clients he would invest in options and futures. However, court documents say he used money for personal expenses and sent Ponzi-like payments to his clients.

“While [Wilkinson] reassured investors with lie after lie, he was living lavishly courtesy of the millions he was secretly diverting to himself,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Eichenseer wrote in the sentencing documents.

He will also pay $8 million in restitution. Finally, he faces a civil enforcement lawsuit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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