SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A man from California tried to avoid being caught by jumping into a lake with an underwater scooter. On Thursday, federal officials said he pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering, and tampering with witnesses in a $35 million investment fraud scheme.
According to the prosecutors, Matthew Piercey, 48, of Shasta County, asked investors for money between 2015 and 2020 and then spent it on personal and business things, like buying two homes.
A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California says that he returned about $8.8 million to investors, out of the $35 million they put in.
In November 2020, when police tried to arrest Piercey, he led them on a car chase before ditching his car and running into Lake Shasta with what was later found to be a Yamaha 350LI underwater submarine device.
Federal officials wrote in court papers that Piercey was a flight risk and that he spent some time underwater where police could only see bubbles.
He was caught when he came out of the water after about 20 minutes. There was a sea scooter underwater. A sea scooter is a mechanical device that pulls people underwater at speeds of about 4 mph (6.4 kph).
According to a statement from the Justice Department, Piercey tried to get investors and witnesses not to answer grand jury subpoenas. He also used coded messages from jail to tell two people how to get rid of a U-Haul storage locker he had hired.
The FBI searched the locker and found a wig and 31,000 Swiss francs, which is about $37,000.
Piercey could spend up to 20 years in jail for each count of wire fraud, mail fraud, tampering with witnesses, and money laundering. His sentence is set for September 4.