Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Posing as AIDS Doctor to Defraud Investors
Gregory Caplinger, who "posed as a world-renowned AIDS doctor" in order to "bil[k]" investors, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday on charges of wire fraud and money laundering, the Associated Press reports. Officials said that Caplinger, who fled on the last day of a trial in which he was convicted by a federal jury in Charlotte, N.C., in July 2000, posed as a "renowned" doctor in the Dominican Republic who had developed an alternative treatment for HIV/AIDS. After fleeing, Caplinger lived as a fugitive for a year. U.S. Attorney Robert Conrad said that Caplinger was charged with defrauding investors of more than $1.8 million between 1995 and 1997. He said that Caplinger possessed "at least two bogus degrees" from European "diploma mills," as well as one degree from a "legitimate" Dominican Republic medical school that he "obtained through deceptive means." Caplinger recruited investors who believed they would receive large profits by investing in his treatment. In addition to the jail sentence, Caplinger was ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to those he defrauded. He faces additional federal charges "for similar conduct" in Pennsylvania (Associated Press, 10/31).
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