PORTLAND, Ore.—Shayne Kniss, 43, formerly of Lake Oswego, Oregon, was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for defrauding clients of his investment firm, Iris Capital Management Group, LLC. Kniss was also ordered to pay more than $529,000 in restitution to his victims.
According to court documents, Kniss founded Iris Capital in October 2010 and offered real estate based investments in several different funds to investors. Through various means, including brochures, private placement memoranda, emails, and personal presentations, Kniss misrepresented how he would manage investor funds.
Between February 2011 and April 2013, 47 people invested approximately $4.3 million in Kniss’s funds. Kniss commingled investor money among the funds, used new investments to make payments to prior investors, and used more than $500,000 for person use, including investing in a retail marijuana enterprise.
Kniss previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on May 8, 2018.
The FBI investigated this case. It is being prosecuted by Seth D. Uram, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
