Note: this press release was issued by the Division of Criminal Justice
and not by the Department of Banking. For further information, 
please contact the Division of Criminal Justice at (860) 258-5800.

November 14, 2003 -

Chief State’s Attorney Christopher L. Morano announced the sentencing today in Stamford Superior Court of Gerald Georges, age 27, of Bridgeport, on criminal securities charges.

During 2000 and 2001, Georges operated several businesses in the city of Stamford, including Georges Trading Corporation, which offered and sold securities to the public in the form of promissory notes.

Georges had previously entered guilty pleas to four counts of securities fraud, and four counts of sale of unregistered securities. The Honorable Judge John F. Kavanewsky, Jr. sentenced Georges to a total effective sentence of seven years incarceration, suspended after three and one-half years served, to be followed by five years probation, and an order of restitution totaling $700,000.

A co-defendant, and former employee of Georges, Etienne Decembre, age 50, of Stamford, entered guilty pleas today before Judge Kavanewsky to two counts of sale of unregistered securities. He is expected to receive a suspended sentence when he is sentenced on February 20, 2004, due to his cooperation with the State’s investigation.

The case was jointly investigated by the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office, the Securities and Business Investments Division of the State of Connecticut Department of Banking, and Detective Bruce Rosa of the Stamford Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the Statewide Prosecution Bureau in Morano’s Rocky Hill office.