Monroe L. Beachy, Amish Swindler, Pleads Guilty In $17 Million Fraud Case

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- As members of his community watched quietly in court, an Ohio man admitted Thursday that he defrauded fellow Amish in 29 states out of nearly $17 million.

Monroe L. Beachy, 77, of Sugarcreek changed his plea to guilty in U.S. District Court before Judge Benita Pearson. She ordered a pre-sentence report and scheduled sentencing for May 24.

A one-count mail fraud indictment returned last year charged Beachy with promising investors safe securities but moving money to riskier investments.

The indictment says nearly 2,700 people and entities, including an Amish community loan fund, lost about $16.8 million since 2006. Beachy's company has filed for bankruptcy protection.

The charge carries a maximum 20-year sentence, but under federal sentencing guidelines, he is likely to face 12 to 15 years. The government hasn't indicated what sentence recommendation it might make to the judge, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Mike Tobin said.

Beachy's lawyer, Gerry Ingram, told the judge he intends to ask for leniency.

"Mr. Beachy did not personally benefit and the loss was not a result of him secretly stashing away money, but was a result of market fluctuations," Ingram said.

"He has always lived a very modest lifestyle."

But the government said Beachy had misled investors.

"Beachy told the investors that their money would be used to purchase risk-free U.S. government securities, which would generate returns for the investors," the Securities and Exchange Commission said last year in a civil filing.

"In reality, Beachy used the money to make speculative investments in high yield (junk) bonds, mutual funds, and stocks."

Beachy, bearded with a shock of white hair, is a member of an Amish church near Sugarcreek, about 60 miles south of Cleveland.

Ohio's Amish communities, concentrated in rural counties south and east of Cleveland, have a modest lifestyle, traveling by horse and buggy and forgoing most modern conveniences. It's uncommon for them to take their disputes public and enlist authorities.

Fellow Amish had sought to intervene in the bankruptcy case involving Beachy's investment company and have it settled out of court, but the judge rejected the move.

Members of the Plain Community said Beachy had "accepted the counsel" of his church.

Comments

[Outdated cowboy]

08:53 AM on 03/18/2012

Holy cow! I just noticed he a son of Beachy

[Outdated cowboy]

08:48 AM on 03/18/2012

NO!!!!!!! what's going on in the Amish community. beard cutting gangs, drag racing buggys, drunk buggyers. and crooked amish investors. Wait amish investor? what happened to the good ole days?

[henrypapillon]

09:14 PM on 03/17/2012

Does bankruptcy protect you when you have acted illegally?

[Voidoids]

06:06 PM on 03/17/2012

Gotta love the Amish. always good for a largh

[raphaelbonee]

01:50 PM on 03/17/2012

I can see the amish gathering right now and saying "there was always something different about Munroe", "parted his hair down the middle he did, loved sachs"

[nothingchanges]

08:51 AM on 03/17/2012

and he's not currently running for President on the Republican ticket?

I guess even he couldn't bring himself to say "God told me to run"?

[nellpost]

09:31 AM on 03/17/2012

Our viewing party for Game Change was a totally wonderful evening....we also discussed the attacks on womens rights, which I recommend to all....invite all the young females you know.....

[raphaelbonee]

01:53 PM on 03/17/2012

Will take you up on that one. I've heard it was good.

[candyharris]

05:43 AM on 03/17/2012

Wall Street lost a lot of money and we bailed them out..... why aren't they all in jail? A citizen robs a bank and they go to jail, banks rob us and they get bail outs and bonuses! Obama has bilked the citizens of the US out of BILLIONS why isn't he under indictment?

[cdmongo]

01:38 AM on 03/17/2012

It pales in comparison to obamas fraud

[natureman44]

02:40 AM on 03/17/2012

You got that right cd, Obama has defrauded millions of people. His change that he promised was not the kind of change we got.

[henrypapillon]

09:18 PM on 03/17/2012

Yeah, that was brilliant. Are you two lovers traveling together? You his set up man?

[natureman44]

02:41 AM on 03/17/2012

fanned

[takethetime]

12:32 AM on 03/17/2012

I had to really read the article because I thought they might be talking about that Amish guy who makes these wildly fantastic claim about his space heaters.

[joeshop8]

12:20 AM on 03/17/2012

So Jebadia Madoff hits the Amish in Ohio??

[dave Spade]

11:33 PM on 03/16/2012

You know he used some of the money to buy a new convertible buggy!!

[estimatorone]

11:18 PM on 03/16/2012

I didn't think that the amish people had that much money considering
the simple life style they have and that having any kind of real money
is considered almost a sin. Also, why was this guy found guilty of some-
thing like this? Wall street did the same thing, brought the entire financial
system to it's knees, investors lost billions and no one has been prosecuted
yet for that.

[King72]

11:53 PM on 03/16/2012

Aside from looking like they don't have any money, most of the Amish are fairly well off if not wealthy. Simply because they shun the modern lifestyle and dress modestly does not mean they don't like their money and know how to make it and handle it. They pay cash for everything, even whole farms. Go to an Amish livestock auction some time. One well bred Belgian draft horse sells for thousands of dollars. Their handcrafted items for sale are also not cheap. Being showy is a sin, having money is not.

[aaacs1]

04:43 AM on 03/17/2012

They don't have health insurance either and pay for all medical services and hospitalizations in cash.

[natureman44]

02:55 AM on 03/17/2012

Democrats Barney Fwank and Chris Dodd have this guy beat at defrauding the public. You think Barney and Chris will ever have to answer for telling us that Fanny and Freddie were financially stable and in good shape?? Democrats never have to answer to anything they do wrong. In fact they do what Obama has done, he just pretends he hasn't been president and presided over the worst economy in 65 years. If he gets re-elected he will still be blaming Bush in 2016 for his financial woe's . Ahh, I mean for OUR financial woe's, because WE will be the ones hurting.

[aaacs1]

04:44 AM on 03/17/2012

Did you study economics and history in school? If you did then yoiu have forgotten the lessons taught you about both.

[yovinny100]

11:00 PM on 03/16/2012

We been spending most our lives
Living in an Amish paradise
I've churned butter once or twice
Living in an Amish paradise
It's hard work and sacrifice
Living in an Amish paradise
We sell quilts at discount price
Living in an Amish paradise

Weird Al- "Amish Paradise"

[victorzeller]

10:48 PM on 03/16/2012

What do the Amish know about the stock market? They don't even have electricity or phones and some don't even have running water or bathrooms.

[kaptan]

12:01 AM on 03/17/2012

you should research more about amish

[natureman44]

03:45 AM on 03/17/2012

victorzeller, You need to know that the Amish are some of the most astute business people in America, they make farming profitable and flourish using old fashioned horse drawn equipment when other conventional farmers using all the latest modern equipment and scientific knowledge available are failing or are deep in debt. They are brilliant entrepreneur's and have developed businesses that are shipping their hand made products all over this country and possibly all over the world. I did read somewhere that an European family had furnished their home with Amish furniture. It would do good to remember that many of the most intelligent people in America have never set foot inside a university and have gone on to become some of the richest people in the world. Education does not always equal intelligence, you can educate any fool, but in the end you still end up with nothing but an educated fool ! Which is what we can see here in some of the comments. lol As for not having electricity or plumbing some of America's greatest leaders never had electric lighting or inside plumbing. Their leadership skills far outweigh their counterparts in America today. Abe Lincoln never had a speech writer but his Gettysburg address is considered one of the most moving display of words ever put on paper. Just imagine, no teleprompter, and no formal training. Obama likes to compare himself to Abe Lincoln, now that can truly be called wishful thinking, Or one hell of an imagination.

[palmdesertsandra]

10:46 PM on 03/16/2012

Thank you Mr. Beachy ......... the comments today were priceless, and I really needed
a good laugh, and I thank all the Huffington Post commentators for providing them for
me.