Kevin Ingram

Kevin Ingram (born c. 1958) is an American bond trader, investment banker, and businessman. In 1992 and 1996, he was included as among the top 25 most successful Black Wall Street executives on Black Enterprise. In 2001, he pled guilty to one count of money laundering in a case related to an arms-trafficking sting, launched by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined a penalty of $185,000.

Early life Ingram was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Nathan Ingram, a former United States Army veteran and real estate appraiser and investor, and Doris Ingram, a volunteer nurse. When Ingram was five years old, his father died from suicide. Following his father's death, his mother took over the family's real estate business.

Ingram attended Central High School, becoming a math prodigy. He later attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he majored in chemical engineering. He graduated in 1980, and accepted a Western Electric scholarship to study engineering at Stanford University. In June 1981, Ingram left Stanford to work as an engineer. Meanwhile, in February 1982, Ingram was arrested in Sacramento, California, for passing bad checks and committing misdemeanor property theft. Ingram spent five weekends in prison and was placed on a two-year probation. In September 1982, Ingram enrolled into Stanford's Graduate School of Business after learning from a college friend that Wall Street was interested in hiring math-proficient college students. He graduated in 1984.

Career Goldman Sachs Ingram started working at Lehman Brothers as an associate. A week after he started, Lehman was acquired by Shearson/American Express and went public. Determined to remain involved in finance, Ingram moved to Goldman Sachs one year later. His responsibilities were to structure and issue millions in securities lending for an international clientele including banks, insurance companies, and private individuals with a high net worth. To help build the department, Ingram hired several former colleagues from Goldman Sachs, along with several veteran real estate finance personnel.

By October 1996, Black Enterprise reported Ingram had invested $500 million for Fannie Mae and $100 million for Host Marriott, reportedly the first ever for a hotel company. In 2000, the UMEZ withdrew the offer after Ingram had failed to raise the additional capital. At the time of Ingram's arrest, the Wells renovation was in limbo and Minton's was closed.

In 2000, Ingram founded TruMarkets, a start-up Internet-based trading platform designed to trade securities electronically, along with derivatives and mortgage bonds. Ingram and Peter McCarthy, a former Deutsche Bank trader, pitched the platform to Gary Morgenthaler, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. The informant had introduced Mohsen to an undercover ATF agent, in which Moshen explained he wished to acquire U.S. stinger missiles on behalf of a Pakistani intermediary. He would then plan to traffick the missiles to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. Other international countries were also mentioned as possible recipients. For more than a year, Ingram remained unaware that Glass and Mohsen were arms dealers, trafficking Stinger missiles, guns, and grenade launchers stored inside a Florida warehouse.

Arrest and sentencing In May 2001, Stoltz (who was using the alias "Ray Spears") contacted Mohsen and told him he had sold weapons from Vietnam and had $16 million to transfer. Mohsen was enthusiastic about helping, but noted that he was not in communication with Ingram. Mohsen explained Ingram's financial troubles following the collapse of TruMarkets, and was acting erratic. He also told of how Ingram "screwed him out of money" after he had tried to sell him on a cell phone business venture. Following the meeting, Mohsen left a message on Ingram's voice mail, telling him to contact Spears.

In June 2001, near a Fort Lauderdale hotel, Ingram had met with Stoltz. Stoltz told Ingram he was expecting to bring in $16 million from arms sales within the next year. Ingram switched conversations, preferring instead to talk about the "long-range plans" involving offshore accounts. Suspicious of infiltration by law enforcement, Ingram asked Stoltz if he was wearing a wire. Stoltz assured Ingram that he had done arms deals before, and wondered if Ingram was still interested. Ingram responded, "I'm a professional and I have a reputation, but I don't mind making money." Following the meeting with Stoltz, Ingram paged him stating he would transport the money to the Netherlands through his private jet. He later stated his asking fee was 25 percent of the sale, including reimbursement of transportation costs.

At the Embassy Suites, Ingram introduced Stoltz to Walter Kapij, a business associate and golfing companion, who would pilot a Learjet parked at a nearby private airport. They obtained the $2.2 million contained in two suitcases from Stoltz. Within an envelope, Ingram was handed a paper containing the name and address of the contact, along with his photo, who was staying at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. On June 12, 2001, Ingram and Kapij were arrested in Fort Lauderdale under suspicions of money laundering. Ingram was later released on a $250,000 bond. On November 30, Ingram was sentenced to eighteen months in federal prison, and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. After the sentencing, Ingram offered a brief apology, stating he was sorry he had disappointed his family. He was released from prison in 2004.

Following his prison release, Ingram returned to working in finance and has made investments in the legalized cannabis industry.

Personal life During his studies at Stanford, Ingram married Aleta Hayes, but a close friend recalled the marriage lasted about a year. In 1988, Ingram next married Demetra Harrison, a Goldman Sachs back-office accountant, in which they had one son. They were divorced by 1996. Before he married Harrison, Ingram had another son with a woman he once lived with in Brooklyn. In September 1998, Ingram married Deann Absolam, a fashion model, who was nicknamed "Sparkle". During his trial conviction hearings, the couple had filed for divorce.