Michigan man admits scam, gets prison

A Michigan man was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday after admitting he helped run an investment scam out of a fake business in Lincolnshire.

Donn Coppens, 55, pleaded guilty to money laundering and computer fraud during a hearing before Lake County Associate Judge George Bridges.

Assistant State's Attorney Mary Stanton said Coppens and his son, Adam Coppens, 27, both of East Pointe, Mich., ran the scam from the basement of Donald Coppens' home.

The two sent out hundreds of faxes to people in the Midwest and Canada asking them to invest in their Lincolnshire-based company, World Financial Access.

The solicitations claimed that World Financial Access was located on Parkway Drive in an industrial park that houses several small businesses.

No such company existed, Stanton said, but more than a dozen victims faxed the pair checks to open investment accounts.

The Coppenses would then take account and routing numbers off the checks and use them to remove money from the victims' accounts.

Authorities were alerted to the scheme when an investor in Milwaukee called Lincolnshire police because he had been unable to contact anyone at World Financial Access.

Investigators traced the fax machine number to Donald Coppens and discovered a total of 13 victims who had lost about $73,000 in the scheme.

The pair was originally charged with multiple counts of aggravated identity theft, money laundering, mail fraud and computer fraud.

Adam Coppens was placed on probation for 2 1/2 years in July when he pleaded guilty to identity theft and mail fraud.

In both cases, Stanton agreed to drop some charges in exchange for the men's guilty pleas to others.

Both men could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison had they been convicted after trials.