A Fresno man with a previous fraud conviction pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to stealing $4.2 million from investors, lenders, and the federal government.

Royce Newcomb, 62, entered guilty pleas to wire fraud and money laundering charges for a long-running fraud scheme involving his tech start-up, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith said in a news release.

He is scheduled for sentencing on May 5. Newcomb faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Fooled Investors, Media, and Government

Court documents tell the story of a man so adept at lying that he fooled investors, the Small Business Administration, and the national media.

From 2017 through 2022, Newcomb owned Strategic Innovations, a technology startup company that purported to make smart home and business products meant to stop package theft and prevent weather damage to packages.

Newcomb also claimed that his products made it easier for emergency responders and delivery services to find homes and businesses. Newcomb developed prototypes, attracting local and national media attention for them. One example: Time Magazine included his eLiT Address Box & Security System, which used mobile networks to pinpoint home and business locations, on its Best Inventions of 2021 list.

Prosecutors said that Newcomb lied to deceive investors and cheat them out of their money. The false representations included that he had received a National Science Foundation grant and he would use the investors’ money to bring his products to market.

He used the money instead to pay for gambling, luxury cars, and a mansion. He also used the money to make refunds to investors who wanted out and to pay for new, unrelated projects without investor authorization.

Newcomb received a fraudulent COVID-19 loan for more than $70,000 from the Small Business Administration and fraudulent loans for more than $190,000 from private lenders. He lied about Strategic Innovations having hundreds of thousands and even millions in revenue to get these loans.

Real Estate Fraud Conviction in Sacramento

Newcomb was previously convicted federally in 2011 for running a real estate fraud scheme in Sacramento. He was sentenced to more than five years in prison for that offense, and he was on federal supervised release when he started his new fraud scheme.

The FBI put together the case against Newcomb. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Barton and Jeffrey Spivak are the prosecutors.