KIEV, Ukraine -- Sanctioned U.S. citizen ordered behind bars as investigation into his alleged fraudulent ways continues.
Following a bail hearing today, the Shevchenko District Court in Kyiv ordered American Robert T. Fletcher III to remain in jail for two months on suspicion of fraud.Fletcher is accused of running an elaborate pyramid scheme that defrauded Ukrainians of up to $150 million, according to Victor Pavlovych, a lawyer representing 30 alleged victims.Fletcher, however, blamed his detention on the “actions of his competitors”, Korrespondent magazine, the Russian-language sister publication of the Kyiv Post, reported.The judge ruled in favor of prosecutors in ordering Fletcher to spend two months at the Lukyanivskiy pre-trial detention center as police continue their investigation.Police say they have evidence that Fletcher swindled $10 million from Ukrainians by offering high investment returns on fictitious business projects.Fletcher has run afoul of the law in America.In August 2008, a U.S. federal court ordered Fletcher to pay more than $5 million in fines and penalties for civil violations of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission anti-fraud regulations and laws.Fletcher, 45, has used a fake Ukrainian passport on at least three confirmed occasions for which he admitted paying $70,000, Segondnya newspaper reported.On one occasion he registered his marriage and on another he was caught attempting to enter Russia by train late in 2007 for which he spent 10 days in jail and was released on $6,400 bail.
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