Glenview Broker Richard DeMaria Sentenced to 40 Months for Panorama Global Partners Investor Fraud

Case from 2015 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: March 11, 2015). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Richard DeMaria, a Glenview real estate broker and former managing director of Panorama Global Partners LLC, was sentenced on March 11, 2015, to 40 months in federal prison for obtaining about $4.2 million from investors with promises to trade financial instruments and misappropriating about $3.9 million of it, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1].

How the scheme worked

According to DeMaria's admissions, as described by prosecutors [1]:

1. The pitch: Between about August 2008 and January 2009, DeMaria and a business associate told investors their money would be used to lease and trade certain financial instruments. Investors signed "Subscription Agreements" with Panorama Global Partners.
2. No ability to trade: DeMaria did not plan to use most of the money that way, and soon learned that neither he nor his associate could lease or trade the instruments anyway.
3. Where the money went: At least $3.9 million went elsewhere, including $90,000 on an Aston Martin for a business associate, $600,000 on an Indiana home for another associate, about $70,000 for construction on his ex-wife's Evanston home, and almost $2 million on his struggling real estate development business.
4. Lies to investors: When investors asked for their money back, he told them it had been invested.

U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman said the sentence sent a message that "there will be a price to pay for" investor fraud.

The person sentenced

Richard DeMaria, 45, Glenview, Ill.

• Plea: guilty, December 2013.
• Sentence (March 11, 2015): 40 months in prison and $3.9 million in restitution [1].

Red flags

• "Leased" bank instruments, standby letters of credit or private trading programs promising outsized returns; regulators have long warned these are a common fraud.
• Subscription agreements with a newly formed LLC and no audited track record.
• Vague answers when you ask for your money back.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Be skeptical of any "bank instrument" or "trading platform" pitch; ask a registered, independent adviser to review it.
2. Check the people and firm on FINRA BrokerCheck and with your state securities regulator.
3. Report investment fraud to the SEC at sec.gov/tcr.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Richard DeMaria, Glenview, Ill.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Gettleman)	Pleaded guilty Dec. 2013; sentenced March 11, 2015, to 40 months; $3.9M restitution	[1]

The sentence was imposed in 2015; we have not found a source on DeMaria's current custody status.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Glenview Real Estate Broker Sentenced To 40 Months In Federal Prison For $4.2 Million Investor Fraud," March 11, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/glenview-real-estate-broker-sentenced-40-months-federal-prison-42-million-investor

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