PORTLAND, Maine — Among the flurry of last-minute pardons granted by President Trump Tuesday night was one for well-known Portland real estate developer Michael Liberty.
Liberty, of Gray, has been referred to as "Trump with a Maine accent."
Last year, he and a business partner were indicted by a federal grand jury in Portland for allegedly scamming 200 individual investors out of $55 million.
The investors were backing a startup company called Mozido, now called Finitiv.
According to the indictment, less than half the funds Liberty raised were actually transferred into Mozido, and the majority of those funds were kept for his own personal use.
In granting the pardon, Trump cited Liberty's seven children and numerous philanthropic efforts.
In the past, Liberty was convicted of making illegal campaign contributions to the 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney.
He was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $100,000.
