A 47-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Minneapolis to five years in prison for executing a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme.
Michael R. Drilling, of Grand Marais, defrauded 13 investment advisory clients for more than $5.7 million, telling them that their money was placed in a fund pool to be managed more efficiently when instead he used the funds for his personal and business expenses.
Drilling lost millions of dollars at casinos.
He had developed personal relationships with the clients through his company, Financial Advisory Partners LLC. To hide his crime, he created fake accounts for his clients to make it appear as though the funds had been placed in real investments.
Drilling pleaded guilty on April 17 to securities fraud. He was sentenced this week before Judge Ann Montgomery in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. In addition to his prison sentence, he must also pay restitution.
The case was the result of an FBI investigation.
NICOLE NORFLEET
