Repeat Fraudster Andris Pukke Jailed For Massive Belize Real Estate Fraud

NEW YORK, New York – Andris Pukke has been sentenced to eight years in prison by US District Judge J. Paul Oetken for leading a years-long real estate scam in Belize in which hundreds of victims—many of whom were retirees—were defrauded of about US$77 million.

Andris Pukke“Hundreds of hard-working Americans—many of them retirees—lost their savings to this brazen fraud,” United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton said. “Andris Pukke thought he could hide behind foreign land deals and false names, but he was wrong.

“This sentence removes a bad actor and serves as a warning to other would-be fraudsters.”

As alleged in the indictment and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings, Pukke, also known as Marc Romeo and Andy Storm, directed and controlled Sanctuary Belize, which was a vacation and retirement community under development in Belize.

Clayton said Pukke, 56, of Newport Beach, California, fraudulently induced hundreds of victims to invest more than US $100 million in lots in Sanctuary Belize.

He said victims purchased lots with the understanding that they would obtain lots in a built-out community that they could use to build retirement homes, vacation homes, or investment properties.

“The victims were induced to invest by Pukke and his salespeople, and a large majority of the victims were never in fact able to build the homes in Sanctuary Belize that they’d hoped for,” Clayton said.

Pukke has prior convictions for mail fraud and obstruction of justice and has a prior US$172 million judgment against him from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in connection with a prior deceptive company he controlled, AmeriDebt.

“Knowing that victims would not want to invest in Sanctuary Belize if they were aware of the criminal background of the man who controlled Sanctuary Belize, Pukke directed his salespeople to lie and say that he was not involved in Sanctuary Belize,” said Clayton, stating that Pukke used the aliases Marc Romeo and Andy Storm to conceal his involvement and control of Sanctuary Belize.

He also directed his salespeople to tell victims that Sanctuary Belize had no debt and that every dollar from victims would go to develop the property.

In fact, Clayton said Sanctuary Belize had more than US$12 million in debt, and that Pukke “stole nearly US$10 million from Sanctuary Belize for, among other things, the purchase and renovation of a waterfront home, the repayment of a personal loan, personal investments in startup companies, child support payments, purchase of land in the Bahamas, and payments to family and friends.

While under investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Pukke unsuccessfully attempted to induce another individual to create a sham document that he hoped to show prosecutors and the investigating grand jury in an effort to corruptly avoid prosecution.

Pukke was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice on July 10, 2024.

In connection with his sentencing, victims sent nearly 200 letters to the court describing the harm caused to them, including, in some cases, the loss of their retirement savings.

In addition to the prison term, Pukke was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Pukke was also ordered to forfeit US$9,912,396 and was previously ordered in litigation with the FTC to pay restitution to victims of Sanctuary Belize in the amount of US$120.2 million.