John Stuart Robinson, 63, allegedly claimed the investor was providing money for the University of Austin.
AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin man faces more than a decade behind bars after he was convicted of money laundering and fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
The attorney’s office said 63-year-old John Stuart Robinson convinced an investor to pay $1 million to a bank account he controlled, allegedly claiming the funds would support the University of Austin. The funds were supposed to be held in a third-party account “unless and until Robinson raised an additional $1 million,” documents stated.
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Once the money was sent to Robinson’s business bank account, he sent $250,000 of that funding to a different one of his accounts, according to the attorney’s office.
Several months later, “Robinson had essentially spent the entire $1 million.” During this time, he allegedly lied about land ownership, offered untrue property contracts and said he made project payments using his own accounts.
He was indicted last year on Nov. 18 and was arrested several days later on Nov. 21.
Robinson now faces up to 20 years in federal prison for one count of wire fraud and an additional maximum of 10 years in prison for charges of money laundering.