Miami Scammer's Possible 400-Year Sentence Makes Madoff's Seem Light

By Kyle Munzenrieder Mon., Jun. 29 2009 at 1:14 PM

Categories: Crime

via Taunton Gazette

Okun and Bolani in happier times

Bernie Madoff is facing 150 years in prison, but that's nothing compared to the 400-year sentence that could await former Miami businessman Edward Hugh Okun.

Not much ink has been spilled locally about Okun, but we'll bring you up to speed. At some point, Okun, now in his late 50s, met Simone Bolani, a 29-year-old Miami Beach beauty salon owner. Together they lived a lavish lifestyle that included four mansions, a helicopter, three airplanes, 20 automobiles, and a megayacht. When it came time for Okun to divorce Bolani, he needed about $6 million to send her on her way.

Problem is he didn't have the money; he actually didn't have much of his own money at all and had been scamming investors through his Richmond, Virginia-based company to fuel his lifestyle. He tricked hundreds out of a total of $126 million.

He was convicted on 23 counts in a Virginia court this past March, and when he faces his sentencing in August, he could wind up with 400 years in jail.

[NBC4: Man Faces 400-Year Term In $126 Million Scam]