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Dino Koutsogiannis, 57, of Fairview, and some unidentified cronies played the long game, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
They began by opening bank accounts for two bogus companies that Koutsogiannis created in Florida -- called Vegan Vacation and Orlando Dinos -- according to a federal complaint filed in Newark.
Koutsogiannis was the only officer or director of the shell companies, which the complaint says "did not conduct any legitimate business and [were] used solely for the conspiracy."
He and his co-conspirators deposited no more than a couple hundred dollars in cash into each account, an agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark wrote in the complaint.
Then they spent a few months flying under the radar, he said.
Eventually, Koutsogiannis and friends began transferring funds from other bogus businesses into the bank accounts, the complaint says.
Then came the bust outs.
Several weeks after the fund transfers, the scammers rang up huge debit purchases from shell companies that Koutsogiannis created in Greece, the HSI complaint says.
The transactions were frequently in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, it says, well over what was in the accounts.
The balances remained negative for a few months before the banks took the hit and closed the accounts.
The scammers simply moved on to the next victim, Sellinger said.
"Koustigannis and the conspirators executed this scheme numerous times at six victim financial institutions between July 2022 and July 2023, causing those institutions approximately $2.8 million in losses," the U.S. attorney said.
Koustigannis -- who'd been one of the operators of the now-defunct Spartan School of Self Defense on Palisade Avenue in Cliffside Park -- was charged with bank fraud conspiracy. A federal magistrate judge in Newark ordered him detained following an initial appearance on Monday, March 4, Sellinger said.
READ THE FULL COMPLAINT: USA v. Dino Koutsogiannis
Sellinger credited the Newark-based HSI agents with the investigation leading to the charges. He also thanked Teaneck, Springfield and New Jersey State Police for their assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chana Y. Zuckier of his General Crimes Unit in Newark is handling the case for the government.
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