White Plains, NY
Breaking News
Westchester Consulting Firm Owner Sentenced For Defrauding Investors
The owner of a consulting firm in Westchester is heading back to prison for more than four years after admitting to defrauding investors out of nearly a million dollars. Somers resident Douglas Castle, who already served time in prison for bilking investors in 2003, has been sentenced to 50 months behind bars after pleading guilty to wire fraud on July 26 in White Plains federal court. On June 25, 2003, Castle was sentenced in federal court to 34 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his conviction on an investment fraud scheme that caused investor losses of over $1.2 m…
Fairfield, CT
Breaking News
Lawyer Who Hid Money To Avoid Paying Fraud Scheme Victims Restitution Gets Additional Sentence
A lawyer already behind bars for helping to facilitate a $19 million fraud scheme received an increased sentence after she attempted to hide nearly $50,000 in cash from the government. Diane Dalmy was sentenced in New Haven District Court to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for her role in a securities “pump and dump” scheme. She was also found guilty of attempting to hide $47,000. From January 2009 through July 2016, Dalmy, who now lives in Denver, used her position as an attorney to assist others in defrauding more than 12,000 investors out of nearly…
Westport, CT
Breaking News
Westport Man Admits To Investment Fraud Scheme, Lying To SEC
A 72-year-old man from the area has admitted to lying to the FBI and SEC while misrepresenting the worth of his businesses for several years. Westport resident Barton Stuck, who controlled the business entities of Signal Lake, a venture capital company that invests in technology companies - has pleaded guilty to multiple offenses related to an investment fraud scheme. Stuck admitted to committing fraud in 2015 and 2016 by misrepresenting the financial health and prospects of the Signal Lake entities and their investments to benefit himself personally. In one instance, he told an undercover…
Pascack Valley, NJ
Breaking News
Authorities: Hillsdale Investment Adviser Who Admitted Scamming Friends Of $1.5M Does It Again
Soon after agreeing to pay $1.5 million to settle charges of defrauding close friends and community members, a Hillsdale investment adviser was back at it, local and federal authorities charged. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office filed new complaints against Bruce Fixelle for conning unwitting victims out of more than $500,000 through two companies that he controlled. Fixelle, 58, used the money "for his own purposes and to pay other investors," then tried to cover his tracks by giving the victims bogus capital investment statemen…
Mount Pleasant, NY
Breaking News
Hudson Valley Accountant Sentenced, Ordered To Pay $600K
A Rockland County accountant admitted in White Plains federal court to his role in a multi-million dollar deception scheme is heading to prison and must pay $600,000 in restitution to his victims. Mitchell Klein, 62, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison and must pay the restitution for not reporting a theft from his real estate company, which was connected to the scheme involving his investors, family and friends. In total, more than 100 clients lost investments with Klein and his former business partners, who in total lost more than $60 million in real estate projects and ve…
Fairfield, CT
Breaking News
CT Yacht Sharing Club Exec Sentenced For Defrauding Investors
A former executive at a yacht sharing club has been sentenced to time behind bars in district court in Connecticut. John Durham, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced on Friday that Fort Lauderdale resident Andrew Deme, 52, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by three years supervised release after pleading guilty to defrauding investors in the yacht sharing club. Durham said that according to court documents and statements made in court, Deme was the president and sole director of Waters Club Worldwide, which merged with Petrus Resources Corp…
Pascack Valley, NJ
Breaking News
Fined
: River Vale Hustler Used Investments For Strip Club, Limos, More
Investors who “thought they were getting in on the ground floor of a legitimate business venture” were instead funding the lavish lifestyle of a River Vale man who used their money on steak dinners, limo service, $8,800 worth of visits to a strip club and other personal expenses, authorities charged. Eric J. Bruno and his company, Mirakill Brands, “misled at least eight investors – including at least seven from New Jersey – into buying unregistered securities in the form of membership interests and warrants to buy membership interests in Mirakill,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal sai…
Mount Pleasant, NY
Breaking News
Two From Westchester Among Four Charged With 'Cooking Books' For Hedge Fund
A pair of Westchester residents were among those charged in federal court to their roles in an alleged securities scam that saw them overstate their investment firm’s worth by hundreds of millions of dollars to bilk investors. U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss announced on Wednesday that White Plains resident Ashish Dole, 34, and Armonk resident Amin Majidi, 52, have been involved in an elaborate scheme that saw them mismark funds they managed by more than $200 million. According to Strauss, Majidi, Dole and New York City residents Jeremy Shor and Frank Dinucci, Jr. from 2014 through 2016, they …
Ossining, NY
Breaking News
Investors Seek $17M From Westchester Developer In Fraud Suit
More investors from Westchester and Connecticut are demanding at least $17 million in damages and a court order stopping White Plains developer Michael D’Alessio and Michael Paul Enterprises from selling or transferring properties. They claim he misappropriated their funds on housing projects in Scarsdale and Manhattan. D’Alessio and his enterprises carried out a massive scheme to defraud them, investors allege in three lawsuits filed in Westchester Supreme and County Court. The Westchester Bank also sued, demanding $881,000 on a $1 million loan D’Alessio took out in 2015, according to new…
Fairfield, CT
Breaking News
Fairfield County Man, 49, Sentenced For $6M Ponzi Scheme
A 49-year-old Wilton man was sentenced to more than three years in prison Tuesday for using hedge-fund money for his own personal use as part of a $6 million-plus Ponzi scheme. Steven Simmons was sentenced to 37 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Kimba M. Wood. Simmons, who solicited over $6 million in investments for a hedge fund, misappropriated nearly $2 million of these funds for his own use and that of a co-conspirator, said Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Other investor funds solicited by Simmons were used by the owner of the He…
