A former New York broker has been sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison for running a nationwide Ponzi scheme that spanned 10 years and bilked at last 1,000 investors out of more than $115 million, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
Perry Santillo, 41, of Rochester, N.Y., who was convicted of mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to launder money, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. to pay restitution totaling $102,952,582.77.
Santillo, according to the court document, conspired with Christopher Parris and others to participate in the Ponzi scheme. In 2007, Santillo and Parris, 41, formerly of Rochester, and currently of Lawrenceville, Ga., formed a business known as Lucian Development in Rochester, which raised millions of dollars from investors in that city and across the U.S.
The court said they solicited investments for City Capital Corporation, a business operated by Atlanta resident Ephren Taylor. City Capital was a business that purported to help small business and issues promissory notes. It also sold machines with casino-type games on them, according to a U.S. District Court filing in Georgia.
In July 2007, Taylor told Santillo and Parris that their investors’…
