Jersey City, NJ
Police & Fire
Husband And Wife From W. New York Admit Running $500K Ponzi Scheme Husband And Wife From W. New York Admit Running $500K Ponzi Scheme
Husband And Wife From W. New York Admit Running $500K Ponzi Scheme A married couple from West New York pleaded guilty to multiple offenses related to an investment firm that was really cover for a Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said Monday.  Alcibiades Cifuentes, 36, and his wife Jennifer Wee Cifuentes, 38, ran a hedge fund, Cifuentes Fund Management, which they said was investing in foreign currencies and commodities.  In reality, for three years beginning in 2012, the couple took investors' money and bought jewelry, an Audi R8 and other items. They took some cash from more recent investors in the fund and gave it to older invest…

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by Paul Milo
Massapequa, NY
News
LI Ponzi Scheme Victims Getting $5 Million Back LI Ponzi Scheme Victims Getting $5 Million Back
LI Ponzi Scheme Victims Getting $5 Million Back The investors in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme run in part by a Long Island scammer have received millions in restitution. Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that 48 victims of Pennsylvania’s Kevin Brody and Syosset resident Matthew Eckstein - who were arrested last year for their role in the scheme - received restitution checks that totaled approximately $4.6 million. Last year, it was determined that Eckstein and Brody scammed a total of $12 million from 50 people - many of whom were senior citizens - while acting as financial advisers. In reality, the money t…

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by Zak Failla
Briarcliff, NY
News
Financial Advisor Admits To Running $5M Ponzi Scheme, SDNY Says Financial Advisor Admits To Running $5M Ponzi Scheme, SDNY Says
Financial Advisor Admits To Running $5M Ponzi Scheme, Sdny Says A financial adviser from Fairfield County admitted to running a yearlong multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. Norwalk resident James Booth, 74, who operated Booth Financial Associates, pleaded guilty solicited money from clients, falsely promising to invest the money in opportunities offered outside of their ordinary advisory and brokerage accounts. Booth pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud. When he is sentenced on Feb. 21 next year, he will face up to 20 years in prison. In total, Booth fraudulently obtained nearly $5 million from his customers. Instead of investing their money,…

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by Zak Failla
Brentwood, NY
News
Ex-Wall Street Trader From Long Island Admits To Running $19M Ponzi Scheme Ex-Wall Street Trader From Long Island Admits To Running $19M Ponzi Scheme
Ex-Wall Street Trader From Long Island Admits To Running $19M Ponzi Scheme A former Wall Street trader from Long Island admitted to running a years-long near $20 million Ponzi scheme Manhasset resident Paul Rinfret, 70, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and wire fraud charges in Manhattan federal court for the scheme to defraud investors by selling limited partnership interests in an entity through which he purported to trade in futures contracts relating to the S&P 500 utilizing a bespoke algorithm he had developed. According to United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman, Rinfret boasted of “extremely high returns in his tra…

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by Zak Failla
Norwalk, CT
News
Financial Adviser From Norwalk Charged In Multimillion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme Financial Adviser From Norwalk Charged In Multimillion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme
Financial Adviser From Norwalk Charged In Multimillion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme A financial adviser from Fairfield County is facing charges for allegedly running a yearlong multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. Norwalk resident James Booth, 74, who operated Booth Financial Associates, allegedly solicited money from clients, falsely promising to invest the money in opportunities offered outside of their ordinary advisory and brokerage accounts.  In total, Booth fraudulently obtained nearly $5 million from his customers. Instead of investing their money, Booth used it to pay personal and business expenses, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said. Booth was arrested on Monda…

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by Zak Failla
Tappan-Blauvelt, NY
News
Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims To Get New $469M Distribution, Bringing Payout To $2.4B Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims To Get New $469M Distribution, Bringing Payout To $2.4B
Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims To Get New $469M Distribution, Bringing Payout To $2.4B Thousands of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme victims will see some more relief as the Department of Justice begins the latest distribution of more than $469 million. This week, the Madoff Victim Fund, which was established by the DOJ, began distributing $469.6 million in additional funds that were forfeited to the government in connection to Madoff's scheme. The money will be distributed to more than 27,000 victims, bringing the total to approximately $2.4 billion. The latest distribution marks the fourth in a series of payments from the Madoff Victim Fund as part of Madoff’s fraud, which tot…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Area Broker Sentenced For Ripping Off Millions From Investors In Ponzi Scheme Area Broker Sentenced For Ripping Off Millions From Investors In Ponzi Scheme
Area Broker Sentenced For Ripping Off Millions From Investors In Ponzi Scheme A prominent Hudson Valley investment adviser will spend more than a decade behind bars after admitting to defrauding clients out of more than $11 million. Hector May, 78, of Orangeburg in Rockland County, the former president of Executive Compensation Planners in Manhattan has been sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $8.4 million in restitution to his victims. May pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in White Plains federal court late last year. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office,  May admitted that from 1995 through last year, he use…

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by Zak Failla
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
News
'Like Watching Him Go Through Chemo': Clayton Morris Moves To Portugal With Worried Wife 'Like Watching Him Go Through Chemo': Clayton Morris Moves To Portugal With Worried Wife
'Like Watching Him Go Through Chemo': Clayton Morris Moves To Portugal With Worried Wife A former FOX News talkshow host accused of being involved in a real estate Ponzi scheme have moved out of the U.S. Clayton Morris and his wife, Natali, first left their Florham Park for Pennsylvania, but have resettled in Portugal. Morris is facing more than two dozens lawsuits saying he organized a scheme that defrauded customers for his own financial gain when he sold them rental properties that were in much worse shape than advertised. Natali wrote on her website that the media attention and accusations were taking their toll on her husband, facing dozens of lawsuits from across th…

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by Cecilia Levine
Fairfield, CT
News
CT Investment Adviser Found Guilty Of $1.5M Ponzi-Like Fraud Scene CT Investment Adviser Found Guilty Of $1.5M Ponzi-Like Fraud Scene
CT Investment Adviser Found Guilty Of $1.5M Ponzi-Like Fraud Scene A Connecticut jury has found a former investment adviser guilty on all counts of a 21-count indictment accusing him of running a Ponzi-like scheme to the tune of $1.5 million. Leon Vaccarelli, 42, has been found guilty in New Haven district court of numerous fraud and money laundering charges stemming from an elaborate investment scheme that saw him defraud more than a dozen victim investors. U.S. Attorney John Durham said that Vaccarelli, of Waterbury, was a registered representative of The Investment Center, and was an investment adviser with IC Advisory Services, Inc. He also was the own…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Westchester Real Estate Developer Sentenced For Operating Ponzi Scheme, Ordered To Forfeit $58M Westchester Real Estate Developer Sentenced For Operating Ponzi Scheme, Ordered To Forfeit $58M
Westchester Real Estate Developer Sentenced For Operating Ponzi Scheme, Ordered To Forfeit $58M A real estate developer will spend time behind bars for operating a years-long $58 million Ponzi scheme that included properties in the area. Michael D’Alessio, 53, was sentenced on Friday, April 5 to six years in prison for his elaborate scheme to defraud investors in luxury real estate developments in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Westchester and elsewhere.  In addition to the prison term, D'Alessio was sentenced to three years of supervised release and order to pay forfeiture in the amount of $58,090,047. D'Alessio is the former president and CEO of real estate development firm Michael …

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by Joe Lombardi
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Financial Adviser Admits To Stealing $11.5M From Clients Financial Adviser Admits To Stealing $11.5M From Clients
Financial Adviser Admits To Stealing $11.5M From Clients Hector May, a prominent investment adviser, has pleaded guilty to federal charges to participating in a conspiracy to defraud clients in the area out of more than $11 million. May, 77, of Orangeburg in Rockland County,  the president of Executive Compensation Planners in New York City, admitted stealing the money with the help of an unindicted co-conspirator, said Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy in…

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by Kathy Reakes
Hackensack, NJ
News
Ex-Bergen County Man Charged In $900G Ponzi Scheme That Funded Amazon Purchases, Cars, Golf Ex-Bergen County Man Charged In $900G Ponzi Scheme That Funded Amazon Purchases, Cars, Golf
Ex-Bergen County Man Charged In $900G Ponzi Scheme That Funded Amazon Purchases, Cars, Golf A former Bergen County man was arrested in Kansas and charged with running a foreign currency Ponzi scheme in which he stole $900,000 from at least 20 investors to pay for a luxury car, jewelry and golf, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Thomas Lanzana, 51 formerly of Midland Park, was charged by complaint with one count each of wire fraud and commodities fraud, Carpenito said. He made an initial appearance Wednesday in federal court -- hours after his Park City, Kansas arrest. Lanzana -- who had been living in South Carolina -- in 2013 began convincing prospective clients to invest…

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by Cecilia Levine