Portland woman convicted in million-dollar investment fraud scheme

File photo A Portland woman has been convicted for defrauding five Maine investors out of more than $1 million by promising them large returns and partnerships with prominent business and political leaders.

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By Renee Cordes

A Portland woman who defrauded five Maine investors out of more than $1 million has been convicted by a Cumberland County jury of theft by deception.

Jody Flynn Dalvet duped the Mainers into paying her investment company — Icy Gulch Resources — after promising them large returns and partnerships with prominent business and political leaders.

Instead, she diverted the investor funds for her personal use.

At trial, prosecutors showed evidence that from November 2011 through April 2014, Flynn Dalvet engaged in a fraudulent scheme that included providing the Maine investors with false financial data and information about business and investment progress.

Those deceptions led the investors to turn over additional money while Flynn Dalvet concealed that she was using the funds to pay for a lifestyle of shopping, travel, and large cash withdrawals, prosecutors argued.

Flynn Dalvet was previously convicted in September 2014 of theft by unauthorized taking for stealing over $330,000 from an investor in a Maine paper company.

While that indictment was pending, Flynn Dalvet hatched a new fraudulent scheme, never disclosing to her new investors that she was under criminal indictment for the misappropriation of investor funds.

Flynn Dalvet was sentenced in the first theft case to seven years in prison, with all but nine months suspended. Sentencing in the present case has not yet been scheduled.

"Mainers need to be very careful when approached to invest their savings in ventures that promise large returns or include supposed ‘unique’ opportunities,” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a Nov. 12 news release.

“Would-be investors should consult with trusted professionals, discuss potential investments with family, and thoroughly investigate anyone who approaches them with ‘investments,” he added.

The latest case was investigated by the Maine Office of Securities.

Assistant Attorneys General Gregg D. Bernstein and Elizabeth T. Weyl prosecuted the case on behalf of the Attorney General’s Criminal Division.