A Scottsdale man was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison after a jury found that he helped run a years-long investment fraud operation that cost investors tens of millions of dollars.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, Michael Shawn Stewart, 63, was sentenced to 288 months in prison and ordered to pay $93,273,838.16 in restitution.
Stewart was found guilty in May 2024 of 14 charges of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to conduct wire fraud.
Prosecutors said Stewart and Bryant Edwin Sewall, 59, owned companies called Mediatrix Capital and Blue Isle Markets, which operated on many Caribbean islands. They claimed to have a long, successful track record with an algorithm-driven foreign currency trading program known as “forex” for potential investors.
Authorities stated that those claims were false. Prosecutors claimed the companies did not have the years of steady profits they stated, and investors were handed account statements that solely highlighted winning transactions while concealing significant losses.
By the end of the fraud, prosecutors claimed Stewart and Sewall had promised investors more than $179 million, but only approximately $9.8 million remained in theiaccounts—a a gap they reportedly referred to internally as “the hole.” Prosecutors said the couple earned approximately $28 million in performance fees and more than $45 million in extra payments before spending the money on luxury items such as real estate, boats, automobiles, and jewelry.
Sewall was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison in November 2024 after being found guilty of the same counts, according to prosecutors.
“Stewart and Sewall stole millions of dollars from unknowing clients in order to enjoy a lavish lifestyle. Instead, they bought themselves decades in federal prison and were forced to pay $93 million to the victims they exploited,” stated U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly in a press release. “To others who think they might want to get rich by defrauding their clients, we look forward to uncovering your scheme and bringing you to justice.”
Michael Young, a third partner with the corporations, alreadpleadeded guilty to making a false statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission and was sentenced to one year and one day in jail in 2024.
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