A former University of California–Los Angeles decathlete and Philippines national team member was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison for scamming cannabis business investors out of $45 million.
David Joseph Bunevacz, 53, of Calabasas, California, was sentenced on Nov. 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and ordered to pay about $35.3 million in restitution to his victims.
During sentencing, Judge Dale Susan Fischer said Bunevacz had “preyed on individuals who believed he was their friend,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Bunevacz was arrested on April 5 and accused of fraudulently raising millions of dollars from investors who were told their funds would be used to finance companies marketing cannabis vape pens.
According to a federal affidavit, he solicited investments for several businesses beginning in 2010.
Bunevacz claimed that the businesses were selling vape pens with nonpsychoactive CBD and psychoactive THC.
He told at least one investor that he had a long-standing relationship with a Chinese manufacturer of disposable vape pens and that he had obtained “raw pesticide-free oil” that was sent to a “lab that infuses the flavors into the oil with our proprietary custom process that renders the vape flavoring smooth and discrete,” according to the complaint.
Instead of using the funds for business operations, Bunevacz used the money to pay for an opulent lifestyle, including buying a house in Calabasas, Las Vegas trips, jewelry, designer handbags, and a $218,700 birthday party for his daughter, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He also reportedly spent $8.1 million at casinos and bought a horse for $330,000.
To conceal his control of various shell companies and create the appearance that the companies were legitimate, Bunevacz registered control of the companies to his stepdaughter and others.
He also concealed from his investors a prior 2017 felony conviction for the unlawful sale of securities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Bunevacz raised about $45.2 million from more than 100 victims, according to government filings. Investigators reported that the losses were as much as $35 million. Some funds were used to repay earlier investors in a manner consistent with a Ponzi scheme.
Fischer said Bunevacz continued to perpetrate his scheme while on probation for a state court conviction.
“Not even a criminal conviction and the threat of jail convinced [Bunevacz] to become a law-abiding citizen,” she said in a statement.
Bunevacz pleaded guilty in July to one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. The maximum sentence was 20 years in federal prison.
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