'AirVest' conmen jailed

Two Americans have been jailed after persuading more than 200 people to invest in developing an ‘AirVest’ which would inflate when a rider was thrown from a motorcycle.

Although there are legitmate products and inventions in this area, John and Toni Duhamell falsely told potential investors that Harley-Davidson had invested in the firm, and then used five million dollars of investments to fund an extravagant lifestyle, including trips to Europe, luxury homes and cars.

John Duhammell was sentenced to seven years in prison at San Bernardino County Superior Court, with Toni Duhammell sentenced to four years and four months. In addition, they will now have to pay $5.6 million in resitution to victims and $816,718 each to the Franchise Tax Board on tax evasion charges.