' Expert,' Who Bilked His Friends, Sentenced
Mark Thorsen told friends he was making a killing in the stock market.
He said he was a day trader who could double their money or more. He summoned them to his home office in Largo and showed them stock charts, televisions turned to market channels and scrolling computers.
Impressed, 10 local investors handed over nearly $650,000. Thorsen invested only $50,000 of it, and his picks flopped. The rest he spent on his house, vehicles, a boat and adult entertainment.
By the time investigators got to Thorsen, 44, all the money was gone. This week he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Thorsen, who pleaded guilty to charges last summer, already has served about 14 months since his arrest in November 2003, so he could be out of prison by 2008.
Prison will be followed by 10 years' probation. Judge Brandt Downey also ordered him to pay more than $640,000 in restitution.
Thorsen faced a minimum of 13 years in prison, but prosecutors agreed to a lesser sentence because Thorsen has no prior felonies on his record and has been remorseful. He has raised $10,000 in restitution since his arrest.
"It showed good faith on his part," said Mark Campbell, who handled the case for the Statewide Prosecutor's Office in Tampa.
Campbell said Thorsen's victims were on board with the sentence, which includes a ban on ever working in financial services again. "He took a lot of money but he got a lot of time," Campbell said.
Thorsen's attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Authorities said Thorsen's victims were mostly friends or people referred to him by friends.
"He was a very affable person," Campbell said. "He treated all his clients like friends."
Thorsen sent clients bogus stock updates that showed the value of their investments was soaring. But when they tried to take money out, they were told the investments had suddenly suffered a catastrophe.
"That's when it started to unravel," Campbell said.
One client eventually called the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Agents began investigating Thorsen, who doesn't have specialized training in investing.
One woman lost more than $30,000 she had been saving for her family in case her rare lung disease forced her out of work. She met Thorsen through her daughter's Girl Scout functions.
Another victim had $135,000 cleaned out of his retirement fund. One man lost $50,000 and had to sell his business to stay afloat.
Copyright ? 2005 St. Petersburg Times
01/26/2005 08:22:41 PM [St. Petersburg Times (FL)]
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