July 15, 2024
Salt Lake City, Utah – A Utah businessman was sentenced in federal court today for the second time this year after he admitted to defrauding hundreds of trusting investors throughout the United States out of $10 million in his smartphone company, SAYGUS.
Chad Leon Sayers, 60, of Midvale, Utah, was sentenced to 29 months’ imprisonment, 15 of which were ordered to run consecutively to his existing sentence of 41 months’ imprisonment, which was imposed in a separate wire fraud case, for a total of 56 months. See prior release here. The sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge David Sam also includes 12 months’ supervised release, and ordered to pay $10,250,834.53 in restitution and a forfeiture money judgement in the same amount.
According to court documents and statements made at the change of plea hearing, from 2006 to 2020, Sayers defrauded approximately 300 investors out of $10 million by lying about SAYGUS being on the brink of a multi-billion-dollar pay-out. Sayers claimed to investors he was developing a smartphone called the “V” phone and then later the “V-Squared.” He claimed that a well-known wireless company agreed with SAYGUS to sell and support its phones. Additionally, Sayers told investors that they were capable of receiving 100 times their original investment and that funds would go toward the research, design, and manufacturing of the new smartphone, when in fact no cell phones were being manufactured. Sayers also claimed that SAYGUS was only raising funds through a stock offering to accredited investors, when in fact it was not.
For over a decade, Sayers spent investment funds on various expenses, including personal loans; personal credit card bills; personal rent; personal legal fees; personal BMW car payments; office rent, ponzi-like “note repayments;” investor lawsuit settlements; legal fees and $144,773 on shopping, entertainment, food and personal care.
To support his fraudulent scheme and create the impression of a successful consumer product technology company, Sayers rented office space for SAYGUS, and occupied approximately 25,990 square feet (3 floors) for approximately 10 employees. Additionally, on 26 different occasions, Sayers tweeted that the smartphone would be launching or available by a certain date, when in fact it never launched. Sayers even sent out newsletters to investors, updating them on developments.
U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins of the District of Utah made the announcement.
The case was investigated jointly by the Utah Division of Securities and the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office.
Assistant United States Attorneys Ruth Hackford-Peer, Jacob J. Strain and Special Assistant United States Attorney Sachiko Jepson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.