PRINCEVILLE — David T. Marantette, III is still in business after pleading guilty in federal court to a charge of mail fraud and allegedly signing a permanent injunction required by a federal agency to stop operating a business from his
PRINCEVILLE — David T. Marantette, III is still in business after pleading guilty in federal court to a charge of mail fraud and allegedly signing a permanent injunction required by a federal agency to stop operating a business from his Princeville home.
When you dial the number of Troubadour, Inc. listed in the current Kaua’i telephone book, a pleasant voice answers with that same company name, and gives you Marantette when you ask for him.
Marantette, reached at Troubadour, Inc., said he hadn’t seen a federal press release that lists the details of his guilty plea, asked aloud why he wouldn’t still be in business, and referred further questions to his attorney, Brook Hart of Honolulu. Efforts to reach Hart yesterday were unsuccessful.
Also unsuccessful were efforts to reach U.S. attorneys for comments.
Marantette, 62, earlier this month pled guilty in U.S federal court in Honolulu to one count of mail fraud, according to a federal press release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu.
The court filing alleges that, from late 1995 through mid-1999, Marantette operated an investment company, Troubadour, Inc., and that, according to the release, Marantette “developed a scheme to defraud his investors by various false representations, including soliciting investments without registering with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or the Securities and Exchange Commission, as required by law.”
Further, the release states, Marantette sent literature to various investors claiming he had a track record of profitable trading when he did not, “promised investors that he would only use a certain percentage of their investment for administrative expenses when, in actual practice, he exceeded these limitations.
“He also told investors that there had never been material administrative, civil or criminal actions against his company, Troubadour, Inc., when in 1992 he had signed a consent and stipulation for a final judgment and order of permanent injunction against the operation of Troubadour, Inc. that had been required by the SEC,” the press release continued.
“Through his fraudulent scheme, the defendant managed to bring $350,000 into Troubadour, Inc. from investors who had been duped,” the release stated.
Marantette’s sentencing on the single charge is set for late June in Honolulu, before U.S. District Court Judge Helen Gillmor.
According to the federal release, Marantette faces up to five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, a term of supervised release of not less than two years or more than three years, and an order to provide restitution not to exceed $350,000.
His company’s website, www.goldstock.com, is still offering information on gold and silver market cyclical information, which the Web site indicates is only general financial advice offered by an entity not registered or certified to trade in securities of any kind.
Marantette moved to Princeville in 1991, when he founded Troubadour, Inc., and continues publishing weekly newsletters, the Goldstock Letter and the Dear Dow Letter.
A Michigan native, he holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University, and operated three successful nightclub restaurants in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., before returning to Michigan and joining a small brokerage house.
One year later he bought out the operation and formed his own firm, Marantette & Co., which became the largest underwriter and NASDAQ market maker in Michigan.
In 1972 Roney & Co. acquired Marantette & Co. He restarted Marantette & Co. in 1984 to pursue his personal investment interests and continued to develop his cyclic analysis trading system, including the ongoing investment newsletters.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
