March 3, 2017

New Jersey announced that eight people were indicted on first-degree charges of conspiracy, racketeering and money laundering for allegedly defrauding 26 investors of more than $7 million through two successive scams involving sales of bogus investments. After the first scam, two defendants – George Bussanich Sr. and George Bussanich Jr. – agreed to pay $5.5 million, including $4 million in investor restitution, to settle a suit filed by the New Jersey Bureau of Securities, but they then allegedly proceeded to defraud 15 of the same investors in a second scam. It is alleged that, as in the first scheme, the defendants never actually invested the funds from the investors as promised. The investors received monthly “returns,” paid out of the original principal investment, which gave them the impression that the investments were legitimate and were profiting. The defendants would simply move money from one account to another and then disburse a fraction of the funds back to the investors as a “return.” NJ

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud,