Daryl Batts, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison

"May you rot in hell!" investor Russell Burrell yelled to a seated Daryl Batts, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the scheme amid a packed federal courtroom in Anderson.Federal marshals surrounded Burrell as he approached Batts, who was seated at the defendants table, and blamed him for ruining his marriage and forcing his son to fight in Iraq instead of pursuing his dream to go to school to become a minister.
"I don’t even want to live," Burrell said, at one point growling at Batts loudly. "Do you know what you did to me, man?!"U.S. District Judge Ross Anderson listened to testimony from more than a dozen victims who say that the 46-year-old former youth minister used deceit, religion and the good name of an established insurance company to fool them into giving him money that he never invested.
One investor -- Tia Foster, a young kindergarten teacher from Concord, N.C. -- told the judge that she gave Batts all $240,000 of the life insurance left to her when her husband passed away and now can’t pay medical bills related to her diabetes and failing kidneys. Before sentencing him, the judge asked Batts how "in the name of all that is holy" did he think he would be able to sustain what prosecutors have said is a "classic Ponzi scheme." Batts told Anderson that he had no explanation for his actions but that he had a "rationalization" that he would invest the money later in a Palmetto Bank account he owned, pay back his clients and then "wash my hands of it." "I stand before you as a criminal," Batts said, telling the judge that he wants to pay his investors back. Beginning in 2002, Batts owned an investment firm -- Comprehensive Financial Solutions Inc. -- that he used to sell insurance policies, mutual funds and other financial products to about 150 investors but never invested the money. Insurance policies and investment funds provided by MassMutual Financial Group were sold through Batts, but the fraud involved was not known to MassMutal, which wasn’t involved in any criminal activity, U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins said after court. To fool investors, Batts would submit fake financial statements to mortgage brokers, who secured loans for individual investors in return for commissions paid to him, Wilkins said. Batts told his clients that he would pay the premiums on their life insurance polices and that he would be repaid out of the proceeds of the policy, plus interest, when the person died or the policy matured and paid out, prosecutors said. Instead, Batts converted the money to his own use -- including buying a home at the Reserve on Lake Keowee and Lexus cars that were recently sold. Investors who wanted some or all of their money would be paid from the proceeds of new investors.Thus far, Batts has been ordered to pay $3 million in restitution as attorneys try to identify money and assets to seize. It’s unclear exactly how much can be recovered, Wilkins said, but a receiver for the case has recovered $3 million and found that Batts paid investors $3 million to keep the scheme afloat. The total loss to investors so far is $6 million, Wilkins said, and Batts’ final restitution will be determined after the location of money and assets is complete. There is no parole in federal prison. The investigation into the scheme is ongoing, with some subjects still left to be vetted, Wilkins said.
One by one, 20 investors stood to share their stories of loss of betrayal they felt after Batts assured them that their money was safe -- oftentimes praying with them as they shared their skepticism. Some said they had forgiven him, others said they were still trying to. "He did it with a smile on his face and a Bible in his hand and on his knees praying," said investor Joanie Benjamin, who told the judge that she gave Batts $85,000 after going online to view what she thought were legitimate investment statements. "He hid behind God," investor Susan Hunter told the judge, imploring him to send Batts to jail immediately because Batts has spent the past six months having parties while on house arrest. "He used religion every day to swindle people. A thief with a gun ... at least you know what you’re dealing with."
"I asked him if this was a Carolina Investors thing," Hunter said, referring to the 8,000 investors who lost about $275 million when Carolina Investors and parent company HomeGold Financial collapsed in 2003. "He told me, ‘absolutely not.’"
Frank Eppes, Batts’ defense attorney, told the judge that Batts would pay taxes on his income and donate money to his church, the YMCA and Clemson’s athletics booster club, IPTAY. "I’ve never seen anyone steal so much and profit so little," Eppes said. "He’s frankly one of the most inept criminals I’ve ever seen. He never had a way out of this situation." Before Batts was aware of a federal investigation, Eppes said, he approached him to tell him of his financial situation. The accounts were then frozen, Eppes said, a federal charges were filed shortly after. Eppes asked Anderson to send Batts to the federal prison in Edgefield to be closer to his family, who was present at the sentencing. Anderson said that he couldn’t control where Batts was sent. The crowd clapped as Anderson told Batts that he would be going to jail immediately, but Anderson told the crowd that emotional outbursts weren’t appropriate. Anderson thanked investors for helping tell the story of Batts’ life, which he said "was not a pretty picture." "I think that sentence will serve its purpose," Anderson said.