Danbury club owner found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering

Ian Bick was convicted Wednesday of wire fraud and money laundering. Ian Bick was convicted Wednesday of wire fraud and money laundering. Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Danbury club owner found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The Danbury nightclub owner accused of running a Ponzi scheme was convicted Wednesday of wire fraud and money laundering in U.S. District Court in New Haven.

Ian Bick, 20, owner of Tuxedo Junction, was found guilty on six counts of wire fraud and one court of money laundering after three days of jury deliberations.

Bick was charged in January with 11 counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering and one count of making a false statement.

He faces 20 years in prison on each of the six counts of wire fraud convictions and 10 years on the count of money-laundering. The U. S. Probation Office will calculate a sentencing guideline range prior to sentencing, which is scheduled for March 2.

Bick was found not guilty on two counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement. A mistrial was declared on three courts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering because the jury could not reach a verdict on those charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Haven.

Bick, who remains free on $250,000 bond, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. His attorney, Jonathan Einhorn, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Bick had promised quick returns, as high as 50 percent, on loans investors made to his portfolio of businesses, including concert promotions, resale of electronics online and at his Tuxedo Junction nightclub in downtown Danbury.

The federal government said during the trial, which began Nov. 6, the investors were victims in a Ponzi scheme in which Bick swindled $500,000 from former classmates and their parents by pretending to be a successful entrepreneur.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McGarry argued Bick said whatever he needed to get money so he could live lavishly, treating himself to shopping sprees at Gucci and Tiffany’s.

“Mr. Bick repeatedly lied to victim investors, took their money and used it to take trips with friends, on shopping sprees, to purchase jet skis, and also to pay off previous investors who were promised unrealistic returns,” U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly said in a statement after the jury reached the verdict.

Einhorn, denied his client did anything criminal.

“Our defense is that Ian Bick had no criminal intent,” Einhorn said Nov. 3 in U.S. District Court in New Haven during the jury trial. “Everything he did was a business proposition and, in fact, he was in the process of paying people back on their business loans until the government stopped him and said he could have no further contact with them.”

stuz@newstimes.com; 203-731-3352