On April 30, 2012, Samuel “Mouli” Cohen was sentenced to 22 years in prison stemming from charges that he defrauded investors out of $35 million. Federal prosecutors sought a 30 year sentence.
In November 2011 Cohen was convicted of 15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering and three counts of tax evasion.
In addition to his 22 year sentence, the Court ordered a $31,422,403 judgment against Cohen.
As previously reported, a background investigation on Samuel “Mouli” Cohen would have identified multiple “red flags” that could have saved investors millions of dollars.
Additional Resources:
- Samuel “Mouli” Cohen Sentencing Delayed to April 2012
- Samuel “Mouli” Cohen Found Guilty
- Samuel “Mouli” Cohen Trial Set
- Mouli Cohen Trial – Government to Bring Evidence of Fake Art Collection
- Update: The Ongoing Saga of Samuel “Mouli” Cohen
- “Red Flags” You Should Have Seen – A Look Back at Mouli Cohen
I am really not that smart but there were so many red flags. I sold him the jaguar and Aston Martin. At that time I was sales manager at Marin luxury cars.
Marin county is very wealthy and Mouli lived in the wealthiest part, belvedere, right at the top of the island with a panoramic view of the bay, golden gate, bay bridge and San Francisco. Beautiful house. But I think most people in the area knew the house was owned by the founders of desktop.com who had been trying to sell it for a while. When Mouli told me he owned the house I was suspicious. Red flag 1.
The wealthy of Marin are typically very laid back. Teeshirts and flip-flops would be typical clothes for going car shopping – even for Luxury cars. When Mouli and Stacy came to the dealership he was wearing a very expensive suit and she was wearing a cocktail dress made from flamingo feathers. Red flag 2.
He paid sticker price for both cars, no negotiation. That almost never happens. Red flag 3.
Stacy wrote a check for several hundred thousand dollars. In my many years experience very wealthy people rarely do that. They wire money or have their “people” handle that. Red flag 4.
I spent time talking to his chauffeur/bodyguard and also his personal assistant (over the next few weeks) both of whom told me that he was a total jerk who owed both of them money but always made excuses for not paying. In fact, his bodyguard (ex navy seal) told me that the people most likely to attack him were his own employees. Red flag infinity.
Lastly, Mouli and Stacy were the strangest couple I have ever met. He was super high energy, super intelligent and super charming. She is one of the dumbest people I ever met. I spent over an hour trying to explain to her how the DVD in their jaguar worked. It’s very simple but apparently not for her. She was too busy preening in the mirror.
Given the above, I googled him and, like you, concluded there were too many inconsistencies for him to be real.
Of course, I had no idea that he was stealing millions from people.
But frankly I am amazed that none of his victims apparently made any effort to check his background,.
Your investigation is right on the money.
Nick
Thanks for sharing that story Nick; I am pretty sure that you are not the only one who has a great story about Mouli. From all outward appearances, he looked liked he “fit the part” of a successful guy, but I too am amazed that his victims never looked into his background.
I had dealings with Mouli also. I figured out he was a fraudster within the first hour of meeting him. If you invested money with him then it seems you were driven by greed; trying to beat the market by a gazillion per cent is never going to work.
Interesting Nick, that you, unlike others, were able to sniff him out. What was it that turned you away?
Finally…I had my opportunity today to confront the despicable Mr. Cohen face to face and tell the sentencing Judge Bryer the enormity of the impact on me personally after losing my life savings to the fraud perpetrated by Mr. Cohen. (and Hari Dillon). May he rot in hell for 22 years.