TCPalm

Posted October 25, 2010 at 1:10 p.m.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/oct/25/port-st-lucie-man-sentenced-to-10-years-in-for/

CAMDEN, N.J.— A Port St. Lucie man who led a multimillion-dollar stock manipulation and money laundering scheme was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.

Alfred Avasso, 71, pleaded guilty on July 11, 2008, to a conspiracy to commit money laundering charge, admitting from July 1998 to January 2005 he conspired with others to manipulate the price of securities in Accident Prevention Plus Inc. and conceal proceeds from the sale of the securities.

Avasso also admitted he laundered the proceeds of the fraud. During Friday’s sentencing in federal court, Judge Jerome Simandle said the losses from the fraud exceeded $5 million.

According to court papers, Accident Prevention Plus was a publicly traded company with offices in New York and Palm Beach County that made on-board computer recording and fuel monitoring systems for commercial fleet vehicles.

“Although not a director or officer, Avasso was on of the persons who controlled the business operations of (Accident Prevention Plus),” according to the charges against Avasso, who was a New York resident when the charges were filed in 2008 but later moved to Port St. Lucie.

Avasso had tried to withdraw his guilty plea, but an appeals court denied his motion.

In addition to the prison term, Simandle sentenced Avasso to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $1.9 million in restitution and forfeit $2.1 million to be paid to victims of his crimes.