Lancaster Man Who Defrauded Investors Out of More Than $750,000 Sentenced to Over Six Years in Prison

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Matthew James Addy, 47, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 75 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $1,000 fine, $1,600 special assessment, and restitution of $755,995 by United States District Judge John M. Gallagher, for schemes through which the defendant defrauded investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The defendant was charged by indictment in October of last year and pleaded guilty this April to 13 counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

As detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, Addy held himself out as a wealthy and successful businessman, entrepreneur, and investor, to induce investors and potential investors to make investments and loans to him.

From approximately January 2020 to July 2022, Addy made misrepresentations to investors and prospective investors about both his personal financial position, falsely claiming a significant net worth, and his business and entrepreneurial experience, mischaracterizing the financial results of the purported consulting business that he claimed to operate, "the Yarah Group."

As the defendant admitted, he induced one victim ("Victim 1") to hire him to operate Victim l's business ("Company 1"), and to make multiple loans to, and investments in, "the Yarah Group," which Addy falsely claimed was based in Beverly Hills, California, and worth approximately $200 million.

Further, Addy applied for and received loans in the name of Victim 1's other business, without the knowledge or consent of Victim 1, giving the lenders Victim 1's identifying information, signing in the name of Victim 1, and listing Victim 1 as the guarantor of the loans. Addy then failed to repay these loans.

In all, Addy defrauded Victim 1 of approximately $722,496.

As Addy also admitted, from about April 2023 to June 2023, he schemed to defraud a second victim ("Victim 2"), with whom Addy had socialized. Addy claimed to Victim 2 that he was a diamond dealer and had made his first million dollars by the time he turned 30 years old.

Addy induced Victim 2 to make a short-term loan to a contractor through Addy's purported company "Yarah Holdings PLC," promising that if Victim 2 funded approximately $25,000 of a bridge loan, "Yarah Holdings PLC" would repay Victim 2 $30,000 a short time later. Instead of a bridge loan to a contractor, Addy spent Victim 2's money, $25,000, for unauthorized purposes, including his own personal benefit, and, despite having signed a promissory note, did not repay Victim 2.

Separately, Addy defrauded a federal credit union headquartered in Pennsylvania, depositing a check in the amount of approximately $8,500, drawn on Company 1's bank account, into his own account. The same day, across two transactions, Addy withdrew the face value of the check in cash.

A few days later, the credit union received notice that the check had been returned due to insufficient funds. When called by the credit union's fraud investigator on a recorded line, Addy made false statements about the bounced check he had deposited. Addy never repaid the credit union for the approximately $8,500 that he had taken by fraud.

This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia's Capital Area Resident Agency and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mary E. Crawley.