Steven Andiloro, a 53-year-old man from Mooresville, North Carolina, has entered a guilty plea on federal charges, including securities fraud and wire fraud, for his role in running a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme alongside exploiting COVID-19 relief funds, as announced by United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Dena J. King.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the investigation led by various agencies, including the United States Secret Service and the FBI, in North Carolina, and the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) revealed that, from 2018 to 2021, Andiloro deceived investors by promoting investments in both legitimate and fictional businesses. Andiloro lured victims with false promises of investing in his car service business or a non-existent marijuana dispensary business; instead, his funds fuelled personal expenses and sunset Ponzi structures for previous investors.
Andiloro fraudulently accessed COVID-19 relief funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by submitting fake applications with false business information. He inflated employment data, revenue, costs, and payroll expenses to steal over $2.6 million in disaster relief funds. Instead of helping those affected by the pandemic, he used the money to support his lifestyle and ongoing investment fraud.
Following Andiloro's guilty plea, he was released on bond, with each count of the securities and wire fraud offense carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison; however, a sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Graham Billings and Katherine Armstrong with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are leading the prosecution of this case.
The Department of Justice has been increasingly vigilant against pandemic-related fraud through the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force established on May 17, 2021. This initiative is a concerted effort to intensify the detection, investigation, and prosecution of fraudulent activities during this unprecedented time. The public is encouraged to report any suspected instances of fraud through the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline or the NCDF Web Complaint Form.