Eric Skys, a 26-year old Pennyslvania resident, will receive 11 years in prison for attempting to defraud Citibank (NYSE: C) of more than $83 million.
Skys had claimed to be a German-raised computer genius with a net-worth more than $388 million in an attempt to defraud tens of millions of dollars from Citibank. Skys had attempted to get the loan in 2007 by posting a non-existent investment in Sprint Nextel stock as collateral with the help of forged financial documents.
Skys plead guilty in the middle of his trial in August to securities, wire and bank fraud.
Here’s what the Tribune Democrat had to say about him:
He enjoyed a life of mystery and intrigue, a seemingly wealthy black businessman riding around small-town Rockwood [PA] in his charcoal BMW, escorted by two armed bodyguards.
Once a high-profile fixture at high-school sporting events, the 27-year-old Skys would go to the gym beneath his modest office at Rockwood Mill Shoppes with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist.
He bragged about enjoying semiautomatic weapons, flying, skydiving, extreme sports and video-game technology.
If anything positive can be said about Skys, it’s that he certainly did have a good imagination.
