Lake George man guilty of defrauding investors out of $6 million

A Lake George man was convicted on Thursday of using about $6 million of investors’ money to fund his lavish lifestyle.

Michael E. Conner, 56, was found guilty on 22 counts of wire fraud. He also was convicted of not filing tax returns after an eight-day trial, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Conner had invented a series of products such as a paint bucket called the Paint Caddy, a knife with a heated blade and a rotatable refrigerator shelf. Starting around 2008, while he was a resident of Virginia, prosecutors said Conner convinced other people to invest in his patents and loan him money that would help him market and sell his patents.

While living in Warren County in 2020 and 2021, Conner fraudulently obtained loans from people under the pretext of completing the sale of his patents, paying the IRS and attorney and accountant fees. He never sold a patent or earned any money from the inventions, prosecutors said.

Instead, he spent money on high-end restaurants in Saratoga Springs, cases of expensive wine and concert tickets.

The victims included residents of both Virginia and Warren County.

Conner was acquitted on one count of wire fraud and two counts of failing to file tax returns for 2018 and 2019.

Conner is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 14. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on the wire fraud counts and up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $100,000 for the tax charges.