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.

August 6, 2004 -

Chief State’s Attorney Christopher L. Morano announced today that ETIENNE DECEMBRE, age 51, of 43 Dora Street, Stamford, was sentenced this morning in Stamford Superior Court. On November 4, 2003, Mr. Decembre entered guilty pleas on two felony counts of Sale of Unregistered Securities.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, during 2000 and 2001, an individual named Gerald 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.

Mr. Georges recruited Mr. Decembre to help him sell his promissory notes. Mr. Georges was prosecuted by the Statewide Prosecution Bureau in Morano’s office for masterminding the illegal securities enterprise. In November 2003, he was sentenced to seven years incarceration, suspended after 3 1/2-years, to be followed by five years probation. Mr. Decembre’s cooperation with authorities was helpful in bringing Mr. Georges to justice.

The Honorable John Kavanewsky sentenced Mr. Decembre to a suspended sentence of four years and placed him on probation for a period of five years. Mr. Decembre was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $302,335. That amount is in addition to the $700,000 that Mr. Georges was ordered to pay as part of his disposition.

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