A disbarred local attorney has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for defrauding elderly clients.

According to a statement from U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. sentenced M. Dewey Bain on Wednesday to five years, three months in prison.

Bain, who upon release will spend three years on probation, was also fined about $4.4 million.

Bain pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud and was disbarred in Georgia in October.

“This defendant, an attorney formerly licensed in Georgia and Texas, entered into trust agreements with elderly victims, told them that he was placing their money in safe investments and then lost it all – over $4.3 million in retirement savings and inheritance money – after diverting it to

his own personal and business use,” Yates said.

“His shameful abuse of trust has now landed him in federal prison.”

The statement goes on to say that between May 2006 and March 2009, Bain took more than $4.3 million of his clients’ money based on a fraudulent trust scheme.

Bain’s business, DnC Multimedia Corp., formerly known as PlanetLink Communications Inc., filed for bankruptcy after Bain diverted his clients’
money to pay for his own personal expenses and used it to support his business interests without their permission.

He assured his clients, many of whom were elderly, that their trust accounts were earning good interest based on the investments. However, the accounts had no value by at least February 2009.

U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Reginald G. Moore said the agency is aggressive when it comes to “con-artists who prey upon innocent victims by promising future large financial gain for a small initial investment.”

“This case demonstrates the wide-reaching effects of bogus financial and real estate schemes, the impact on innocent victims and the importance of cooperation among our law enforcement partners,” Moore said.