December 01, 2016
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The owner of The Boyler Room on South Street has pleaded guilty to defrauding clients of more than $400,000 in an investment scam, prosecutors announced.
A Philadelphia bar owner has received a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for allegedly defrauding investors out of thousands of dollars.
William Joseph Boyle, 47, of Bala Cynwyd, learned his fate Wednesday after pleading guilty in August to five counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, one count of securities fraud and one count of investment adviser fraud.
Boyle convinced his clients, most of them elderly, to give him more than $400,000 to invest in stocks, real estate and other investments, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
But Boyle instead used the money for his wife and ex-wife, paying his children’s Catholic school tuition and buying, renovating and operating “The Blarney South Bar and Grille" at 328 South St., prosecutors said.
Boyle renamed the bar after himself, calling it "The Boyler Room."
Boyle continued to scam victims as a stockbroker and investment adviser even after his licenses were suspended and after he was permanently barred from working as a stockbroker, prosecutors said.
In addition to the 78-month prison sentence, Boyle was given three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $429,000 in restitution, a $1,000 special assessment and a forfeiture of $415,000.
