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After the winning bidders made their pledges and he received his commissions, 33-year-old Gregory Ciccone of Wayne used a variety of stall tactics and excuses to avoid ponying up — including once telling a winning bidder that the 2009 Tour de France had been postponed, they said.
He allegedly used the money, in part, to feed a gambling habit.
Several victims were organizing a class action suit when federal agents arrested Ciccone, the founder, owner and president of GAC Consulting, in Woodland Park this morning.
From at least January 2007 through April 2010, Ciccone “induced charities and non-profit organizations to enter into contracts with GAC, which held itself out as a provider of high-value auction items to charities and non-profit organizations,” a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.
“The charities typically paid GAC both an up-front retainer and a commission on the total amount of charitable pledges raised as a result of GAC’s contracted obligations,” she added. “Ciccone and GAC rarely, if ever, provided the promised items to the winning bidders, and refused to provide refunds of monies paid.”
More than a dozen charities and non-profit organizations were defrauded, causing losses upwards of $650,000.
“The promises he made from the very beginning were as false as the excuses he gave when he couldn’t deliver,” Fishman said. “Victims of schemes like these are not only the charities and donors who are defrauded, but also the worthy causes that lose out because individuals are wary of giving.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward of the Newark field office called the alleged fraud “unconscionable…. In the end, those [who] depend on charities for support are victimized, all in furtherance of one man’s lifestyle.”
They apparently weren’t the only ones.
One complainant said Ciccone “stuck my company for over $100,000 in renovations to his home. He spent money like water and then sent me fake wire transfers to show his income. I was contacted by his own brother telling me he defrauded his own parents… He is a liar and a cheat.”
Ciccone has contended he was being slandered.
“I apologize to all of my clients and potential clients for this unfortunate situation and look forward to continue success and relationships in raising money for worthwhile non-profit organizations,” Ciccone wrote, in a May online message board posting.
Ciccone created the company in Sept. 2004 to “assist non-profit organizations, corporations and individuals with development and fundraising through special events and high-end auctions, along with grant writing and underwriting opportunities,” according to his LinkedIn profile.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mack of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in Newark is handling the case.
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