Al Parish (born in the late-1950s) is a former

Charleston Southern University Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, who was sentenced to

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for convicts who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), inmates considered dangerous (Brazil), or those s ...

after pleading guilty to financial fraud. Nearly 300 people lost up to $66 million invested in Parish Economic's private investment funds. Before being charged with fraud, Parish was known as a flamboyant local financial expert dubbed 'Economan', and was known for his $1.2 million pen collection, including a $170,000 diamond-encrusted pen. Included in the fraud was over $4 Million set aside for Athletic Facilities improvements at Charleston Southern University. He began serving a 24-year sentence in the summer of 2008 after pleading guilty to orchestrating a

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

, and was ordered to pay restitution of $66.8 million. Investigators believe they will recover $9–15 million for investors, but the investigation has cost more than $2 million. He served his sentence at Butner Federal Correctional Complex outside of

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

along with inmates such as Bernard Madoff. After serving about half his sentence, Parish was granted a "compassionate release" on March 17, 2021, due to a number of chronic health conditions and the risk of severe illness from coronavirus, according to an order by U.S. District Judge

Richard Gergel Richard Mark Gergel (born August 14, 1954) is a South Carolina lawyer and United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Early life and education Born in Columb ...

. Al Parish was released from federal prison on March 24, 2021. Records show Parish first filed his motion for compassionate release on April 10, 2020, saying the combined risk of COVID-19 and his chronic medical conditions, constituted extraordinary and compelling reasons for compassionate release. Initially, the request was denied – the court stating his chronic medical conditions did not meet the threshold requirements for compassionate release. Parish moved for reconsideration and reported he had contracted the COVID-19 virus. After some back-and-forth, and discovering he was suffering from Stage 3B chronic kidney disease, the court later reversed its decision and allowed the release.

References

External links

Parish Economics website
in June 2006, featuring the 'Economan' cartoon. 1950s births American fraudsters 21st-century American economists Charleston Southern University people Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government Living people Crimes in South Carolina {{US-economist-stub