Paul Moore IV pleaded guilty in federal court today (July 16) to running a Ponzi scheme and spending most of the money he took in.

Moore was a complete fraud, according to his admission. He told investors he had earned a degree in economics, had worked as a senior analyst for a national securities firm, had registered himself and his firm with securities regulators, and was raking in massive profits for his clients. The truth was that he had dropped out of college without ever getting any course credits, had never worked for a large firm, had not registered himself or his fund with regulators, and when he did trade a portion of the funds, he lost money.

He took in $2.8 million from investors and spent $1.7 million on travel, shopping sprees, meals, entertainment, and chattels of the good life. He used the rest of the money to pay off investors who wanted their money back — thus, he was running a Ponzi scheme.

Like many others of his ilk, Moore created phony statements to get his investors to believe they were making big bucks through his shrewd investing techniques. He will be sentenced by U.S. district judge Cynthia Bashant October 5 at 9 a.m.