BOSTON — A Florida man was arrested Tuesday for his alleged role in a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of millions of dollars in several states, including Massachusetts, the U.S. Attorney said.
Jose Bello, 38, was charged with four counts of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement. He made an initial appearance in the Southern District of Florida and will be arraigned in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Prosecutors allege Bello obtained at least $5.7 million from investors he recruited through friends and family and over Facebook and Discord, and caused them to lose at least $1.8 million in purported investments.
Bello is accused of defrauding investors who believed they were funding short-term, high-return loans for real estate transactions or storm damage repair.
According to the charging document, Bello told investors that he worked with a group that would invest its money in short-term financing that Bello variously referred to as “private lending,” “gator lending,” or “hard-money lending.”
Bello allegedly gave investors fake descriptions of the investment opportunities and claimed that the loans were for repairs caused by storm damage.
Prosecutors allege that Bello did not invest any of the funds he received from victim investors. Instead, Bello allegedly used the money to pay purported returns to earlier investors and otherwise gambled with investor funds.
Prosecutors further allege that Bello lied to investors and made excuses about why he had not made the promised interest payments and/or could not return the investors’ principal.
For each count of wire fraud, Bello faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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