A South Florida man has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and impersonating a foreign government official after having been caught pretending to be a member of the Saudi royal family as part of a scheme to defraud world-be investors, according to the US Department of Justice.
According to a DOJ statement, Anthony Gignac, a 47-year old Colombian and Miami resident, was pretending to be a Saudi royal alternately named Khaled Al-Saud, Khalid Al-Saud, Khalid Bin Al-Saud and Sultan bin Khalid Al Saud.
In June 2015, Gignac and a co-conspirator created a fraudulent investment company – Marden Williams International LLC – which sought investments into non-existing projects from individuals and businesses around the world.
As part of the scheme, Gignac and his co-conspirators pretended that, as a member of the Saudi royal family, Gignac had exclusive access to business opportunities and potential investments, including a pre-IPO of a legitimate Saudi business.
One victim, according to authorities, invested $5 million into the scheme.
Additionally, in March of 2017, Gignac – again pretending to be a Saudi royal – attempted to purchase a multi-million dollar hotel in Miami, in which he stayed using a credit card held in his false name. When visiting the hotel, Gignac arrived in a luxury sports car bearing a diplomatic number plate.
Gignac, who lived in a large home in the upscale Fisher Island area of Miami, allegedly received a number of gifts, including expensive paintings, based on his false identity as a Saudi.
When police searched his home, they discovered fake diplomatic number plates, a fake badge of a Diplomatic Security Service special agent, unauthorized credit cards and financial documents bearing the names of the non-existent Saudi royal, as well as ammunition and thousands of dollars.
Court records show that Gignac, a former street child from the Colombian capital of Bogota, has been posing as a Saudi royal at various other times over the course of the last 30 years, leading to his arrest on several occasions in California, Michigan and Florida.
In 1991, for example, Gignac, then 21, was arrested in Los Angeles after spending $3,488 in room and food charges and $7,500 in limousines while posing as a Saudi prince.
In a later incident, in 2006, he was arrested for an unpaid bill of $27,000 at a Miami hotel. The arrest came after Gignac was robbed in the hotel and police contacted legitimate Saudi diplomats to report the incident.
For the latest charges, Gignac faced up to 10 years in prison for impersonating a foreign government officials, and up to 20 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as well as mandatory consecutive term of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.
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