Center Valley's 'Mini Madoff' Sentenced for Bilking Millions from Investors

In front of victims and family, Chief U.S. District Judge William Steele sentenced Anthony 'A.J.' Klatch II to five years in a federal penitentiary in August. 

Compared to Bernie Madoff in several articles, Klatch took more than $2.3 million from eight investors to "invest" in a hedge fund created by Klatch and his partner, Timothy Sullivan (now deceased). Investors were told that all their money was lost, when in fact Klatch had invested only 60 percent of it. According to a criminal complaint, Klatch and his partner then used the remaining funds to give initial investors a small return, convincing them to invest more funds.

A recent article on Al.com described the lavish lifestyle that Klatch led, with homes in both Center Valley and Florida, an automobile fleet that included Aston Martins and a Ferrari, a $350,000 boat and several Rolexes. 

Klatch, a 2006 graduate of , also organized Meetup groups in the Tampa area. On his meetup page, named "Seeding and Hedge Funds," Klatch wrote:

"The purpose of this group is to link High Net Worth individuals in the Tampa Bay area related to Hedge Funds or Seeding of new financially oriented projects...all high net worth individuals interested in becoming hedge fund investors are invited to join."

A Wilkes-Barre Times Leader article  says Klatch's mother, Charmaine Maynard, testified on her son's behalf during his detention hearing that a history of bipolar disorder runs in the family and may have had something to do with Klatch's actions. Maynard, a well-known activist in Wilkes-Barre, has had trouble with the law in the past when she pleaded guilty to misuse of funds of her employer in 1991 and spent several months in jail.