Victims celebrate as Toronto foreign exchange trader behind $20M Ponzi scam gets nine years in prison

Even before the judge took his seat, the sentencing of fraudster Steven Nowack was a dramatic scene of intense hatred and joy.

It was a day of reckoning that Nowack, 56, had gone to incredible lengths to avoid. “Mr. Nowack did everything he could to delay a trial on the merits of this case,” Judge Robert Goldstein said. In addition to his nine-year prison sentence, he has a fine in lieu of forfeiture of nearly $16-million, with three years to pay after his release, otherwise he faces a potential seven more years in prison. There is also a restitution order to pay the victims about $14.5-million, which takes priority over the fine. Several complainants also have civil judgments against him, which remain unpaid, and the judge said courts will guard against double payment.

Nowack has maintained his innocence all along, and denies having money stashed overseas, as some victims have speculated. “I’m penniless now,” he said. “This was a business transaction gone wrong… Everyone knew they were involved in a high-risk venture… Everyone loved when I was making money.” One victim was Joseph Greenberg, a prominent Toronto family doctor who died before he could testify at trial, but told a police investigator in 2013 of the shame and embarrassment he felt. He was taken for more than $4-million, his family’s life savings. Nowack later consented to a civil judgment for the entire amount, but has not paid it.

Is that skinny Jonah Hill?

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