SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that John Law, age 43, of Rochester, New York, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for his role in a national Ponzi scheme.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Law previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud in connection with a Ponzi scheme that netted over $115 million and resulted in more than $70 million in losses to victims, some of whom were located in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Law conspired with Perry Santillo, also of Rochester, New York, who also previously admitted his role in the scheme and was recently sentenced in New York to serve 210 months’ imprisonment. Santillo is awaiting sentencing in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Santillo and Law offered and sold securities to the public and provided investment advice to customers around the country. Law operated what purported to be legitimate investment advisory business in Scotrun, Pennsylvania. Law and Santillo admitted that the Scotrun business was fraudulent and operated as a Ponzi scheme where the fraudsters misappropriated substantial amounts of the investor’s funds and used the remaining funds to pay off investors who requested withdrawals from their accounts. The Scotrun operation, one of many operated by…
