Tuesday, March 10, 2009

New Jersey Charges Investment Firm, Owner Of Operating A $15 Million Ponzi Scheme

Serafino Holdings LLC and its owner Anthony Lucchetto Jr. , of Plainfield, New Jersey, have been charged by New Jersey state securities regulators of defrauding some 80 investors out of $15 million in a Ponzi-type invesment fraud scheme linked to the Agape World Inc./Nicholas Cosmo Ponzi-scheme fraud. Lucchetto is accused of selling unregistered securities invested in construction loans and making materially false or misleading statements. According to the complaint, "Lucchetto and Serafino Holdings, through Lucchetto, misappropriated a large portion of the investor funds by transferring them to Agape World and Nick Cosmo, now known to be an alleged Ponzi scheme, and there was no such safe investment or insurance program" as claimed in investor materials sent out in January. Lucchetto promised investors 26 percent annual returns on an investment that was 99 percent secured by assets.

Read FraudTalk's earlier post on the Cosmo case here.

Read the story here.

Read the State of New Jersey's announcement here.

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