Former Gladwyne Man Federally Charged With Fraud, Intimidation, More

GLADWYNE, PA — A former Gladwyne resident has been federally charged with crimes related to fraud, retaliation, and intimidation.

United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said Josh S. Verne, 47, formerly of Gladwyne, now a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was charged with 28 separate federal crimes, including securities fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, witness retaliation, and witness intimidation.

Federal authorities allege Verne carried out a series of schemes from at least in or about 2017 to 2020, through which he defrauded dozens of investors, prospective investors, employees, and business partners out of millions of dollars, forged documents, and obstructed justice by threatening, intimidating, and retaliating against others in connection with the federal criminal investigation.

The federal indictment alleges Verne held himself out as a wealthy and successful businessman, entrepreneur, and investor, and that he carried out his fraudulent activities through a series of limited liability companies, of which he was the chief executive and over which he maintained control.

Verne falsely represented his prior business successes, falsely represented his personal net worth, falsely represented his own investments, and falsely represented the financial health of his companies and investments, in order to induce others to invest in or provide loans to him or his companies, according to authorities.

Verne, federal authorities claim, provided an investor with a forged Goldman Sachs statement that showed family investment holdings for Verne of more than $50 million.

However, Verne did not have an investment account at Goldman Sachs in his own name or in his family’s names, much less an account with a market value of more than $50 million, authorities said.

Additionally, authorities allege Verne misused business and investor funds to repay prior debts and to finance an affluent lifestyle he could not afford, such as personal expenses related to renovations to his showcase vacation property on the Jersey shore, travel on private jets, contributions to political candidates, personal charitable contributions, and country club payments.

According to the indictment, in an effort to delay and prevent discovery by law enforcement of his own misconduct, Verne sent bank and FedEx confirmations purporting to confirm delivery of funds to investors to whom he had promised repayment; the bank and FedEx confirmations were false and fraudulent.

The indictment further alleges that Verne stole the identity of a former employee from his company, forging the employee’s signature on a sales agreement to disguise an unauthorized sale of the employee’s shares of stock. According to the indictment, Verne made $150,000 from the unauthorized sale and used those funds to make payments to himself and to a prior investor.

Lastly, the indictment alleges that, after Verne met with the FBI and learned details about the investigation, Verne obstructed justice by contacting the former employee and threatening to divulge false, embarrassing information about him because the employee provided information to law enforcement.

Verne was arrested Friday in Fort Lauderdale and is expected to appear in federal court in Philadelphia next week for an arraignment.

If convicted, Verne faces a maximum of 532 years in prison, including a mandatory minimum of two years in prison to run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a $21.25 million fine, and a $2,800 special assessment.

Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of these crimes and would like to report the information should contact the FBI at 215-418-4000 and reference "Josh S. Verne."