Date: May 21, 2025
Contact: [email protected]
NASHVILLE — Gregory Michael Vogel a.k.a. Gregory Michael Schneider, formerly of Hendersonville, Tenn. and Gallatin, Tenn., was sentenced yesterday to 51 months in federal prison after having previously pleaded guilty to eight counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering for carrying out an investment scheme that defrauded investors of over one million dollars, announced Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee.
“Our office will continue to vigorously pursue fraud and prosecute fraudsters like Vogel in order to vindicate the victims of their schemes,” said Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire. “Prison sentences like this one send a clear message to fraudsters: we will not tolerate those who prey on victims to steal their money. We will find you, we will stop you, and we will hold you accountable.”
“We are committed to unraveling intricate financial transactions and money laundering schemes where individuals attempt to conceal the original source of their money,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins, Charlotte Field Office, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. “Our special agents will continue to use their financial expertise to find and investigate allegations of investor fraud schemes alongside our law enforcement partners.”
According to court documents, between April 2015 and May 2019, Vogel devised a scheme to defraud victims whom he had solicited to invest money with his company in foreign currency exchange websites and software (“forex websites”). Vogel claimed that these forex websites would generate substantial revenue, providing investors with thousands of dollars in monthly profits, and that they would eventually being sold to a third party, so that Vogel and the investors both could realize an even greater return on the investment.
Vogel induced victims to make investments in the forex websites by making false representations about the investments, his management of the forex websites, and the actual ownership structure of the forex websites. Vogel also concealed material information from victims, including information about his background and investment history and his breaches of promises and contractual provisions to investors.
Some of the concealed material information included that Vogel, under his prior name of Gregory Michael Schneider, had been sued by prior investors for a different investment offering and was found liable for committing fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and conversion, among other acts. As a result of that lawsuit, Vogel was permanently enjoined from soliciting or providing any business investments or investment advice in the future. Vogel had also been sued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and entered into a consent order in which he was permanently enjoined from trading or participating in certain transactions supervised by the CFTC.
Following his term of incarceration, Vogel will be on supervised release for 3 years. Vogel is also subject to a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $1,177,540 for Counts One through Eight, and a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $120,000 for Count Nine.
This case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Suedekum prosecuted the case.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.