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This time, Gregory Ciccone, 43, of Woodland Park orchestrated a scheme that defrauded investors of $1.35 million, much of which he used to buy a $54,330 BMW, clothes, wine and more, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Ciccone told the 22 victims that he operated companies that reserved blocks of rooms of luxury hotels that then could be scalped -- like event tickets -- to elite clients, Honig said.
Investors were promised 15% to 50% returns on investments that Ciccone instead used for himself, the US attorney said. Besides the BMW, Ciccone spent $235,000 on purchase clothes, wine, and other personal items while also withdrawing $216,000 in cash, she said.
"In certain instances, [Ciccone] paid other investors to make them believe that their investment was generating profits," Honig said.
That amount came to about $120,000.
To try and conceal the scam, Ciccone fudged statements and forged documents, among other deceptions, Honig said.
Ciccone also failed to mention that he'd served three years in federal prison and that the conditions of his supervised release banned him from conducting business without his probation officer's approval, which he hadn't gotten, the U.S. attorney said.
Several victims were organizing a class action suit in October 2010 when federal agents arrested Ciccone.
He'd defrauded at least 17 charities and non-profit organizations out of $768,000 by claiming that he'd arranged for high-end prizes to be auctioned off to bidders during fund-raising events, authorities said.
These included a walk-on role on the “Desperate Housewives,” tickets to the 2009 Tony Awards, an appearance by a celebrity who survived cancer and rounds of golf at the Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia.
After the winning bidders made their pledges and he received his commissions, Ciccone tried to stall them — including once telling a winning bidder that the 2009 Tour de France had been postponed, federal authorities charged.
Ciccone “stuck my company for over $100,000 in renovations to his home," one complainant said "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 eventually took a deal from the government, pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to three years in federal prison. He served just about all of it before being released in March 2017.
A federal judge released Ciccone last week on $300,000 unsecured bond after Honig's office charged him with securities fraud.
Honig credited special agents of her office, the Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Investigations and IRS – Criminal Investigations with the probe leading to last Wednesday's arrest. She also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Denver Regional Office for its assistance.
Handing the case is Assistant U.S. Attorney Vijay Dewan of Honig's Economic Crimes Unit.
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