International fraud scheme netted more than $137M

TAMPA — A federal judge sentenced an Odessa man and two partners from England to prison for bilking investors out of more than $137 million in an international investment scheme that spanned continents and ensnared lawyers.

The funds, deposited in Florida accounts, were used to buy a Ferrari, an airplane, two vessels and real estate in the Caribbean islands, England and Florida. Authorities seized $5 million that will go to the investors, mostly in the United Kingdom and Ireland, who were victimized.

U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven sentenced Paul Robert Gunter, 64, to 25 years in prison on Tuesday for his role in the multi-year scheme that ended with his March 2008 arrest, says a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida.