Fresno County Man Arrested for Running $20 Million Ponzi Scheme

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/fresno-county-man-arrested-running-20-million-ponzi-scheme

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 7, 2017

Fresno County Man Arrested for Running $20 Million Ponzi Scheme

FRESNO, Calif. — Seth Adam Depiano, 36, of Clovis, was arrested yesterday in Las Vegas and is charged in a criminal complaint with mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Depiano operated a Ponzi scheme that lured real estate investors into giving to him and the businesses he controlled — including The Rental Group, U.S. Funding and Home Services LLC, and Draymond Homes — more than $20 million. Depiano fraudulently promised investors that he would use their money to purchase residential properties and either manage the properties for rental income or arrange for them to be renovated and resold.

According to court documents, in many cases, Depiano promoted the properties to investors with documents that falsely represented high occupancy rates. He oftentimes had no authority to purchase or sell the properties and misled investors with fraudulent documents misrepresenting the properties’ ownership. Some of the properties Depiano marketed to investors did not even exist. Depiano paid investors purported rental income that, in fact, was money other investors had given him for investment purposes.
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