4 years, $85,000 restitution for DuPage con artist

A “con artist” convicted of running a securities-fraud pyramid scheme was ordered to spend four years behind bars and pay $85,000 in restitution to a DuPage County victim, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Namon B. Brown, 48, of Chicago, was found guilty of mail fraud, securities fraud and felony theft Tuesday at a bench trial in front of DuPage Judge Blanche Hill Fawell, who imposed the sentence.

Prosecutors said Brown scammed 16 victims in Cook and DuPage counties out of more than $360,000 through two companies, Namon Brown Asset Management and Namon Brown Investment. He remains charged with theft and fraud in Cook County, where his case is pending, officials said.

“Over several years, through conversations and phony financial documents, Mr. Brown led investors to believe that they were making a profit from their investments,” Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office is prosecuting the case, said in a statement. “In reality, the only thing Brown ever invested the money in was himself.” Madigan described Brown as a “con artist” who solicited victims through family and friends, despite never being a licensed securities broker. She said investors received monthly statements showing earnings from $15,000 to $105,000, and were told they could see returns of up to 100 percent.

Prosecutors said one DuPage man invested $85,000, which Brown now must repay. He remains charged in Cook with four counts of theft, two counts of securities fraud and one count of mail fraud.