A Massillon couple sent more than 70 checks over roughly seven years to a man who now hosts a podcast about avoiding scams, and prosecutors allege the total exceeded $7 million. Steven Comisar, 64, of Los Angeles, was charged in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. The alleged scheme began in September 2019 and continued through July 2026.
A Massillon Man's Checks, One After Another
According to Cleveland.com, the Massillon man sent checks ranging from $7,218 to $300,000, and prosecutors say the couple’s money became Comisar’s primary source of income during the alleged scheme. FBI agents say cellphone and email records linked Comisar to the case. He was arrested in California; his initial court date had not been set, the outlet reported.
Prosecutors allege Comisar impersonated CEOs, investors, a wealth director, an attorney and a wealthy person to solicit money for purported investments, including a bitcoin project, a casino and resort, and the Macau Group, according to Cleveland.com. He allegedly told the Massillon man to send cashier’s checks for fees, taxes or fabricated government fines. In one instance, he allegedly claimed a $98,000 Chinese government fine had to be paid to release $25 million in investment profits.
Where the Money Allegedly Went
Prosecutors allege Comisar spent the proceeds on gambling, hotels, food and other personal expenses. Cleveland.com reported that he won $1.2 million at Santa Anita Park in California and wagered about $4 million there between January and May 2026.
Comisar has publicly presented himself as a former con artist who now warns people about scams. He hosts The Scam Junkie podcast, launched in 2023, and has used the name “Don of Con,” according to Cleveland.com. Decades earlier, he wrote America's Guide to Fraud Prevention under a pseudonym.
A Long Criminal Record and Federal Exposure
Cleveland.com reports that Comisar has five federal convictions and served more than 22 years in prison. His convictions from 1990 to 1999 included a telemarketing scam tied to horse racing and a fake oil-well investment scheme. The outlet also reported that he was sentenced in 2003 to eight years in prison for defrauding an 84-year-old Minnesota man of $480,000, and that he was accused that year of trying to extort an attorney.
Comisar was released from prison in 2018 and was on federal probation when the alleged Massillon scheme began the following year. Separately, the SEC sued him over an alleged $618,000 investment scam, accusing him of soliciting investors under false pretenses. A 2021 order required him to pay $12,611 in penalties, according to SEC.gov.
Under federal law, a single count of wire fraud carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, rising to as much as 30 years if the scheme is found to have affected a financial institution, according to the Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Federal sentencing guidelines consider total monetary loss and victim vulnerability, according to Kenney Legal Defense.
Fraud Data in Context
What the Latest Data Show
Nationally, people age 60 and older reported more than $7.7 billion in losses to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025, a 37% increase from 2024, according to the IC3. That national total does not provide an Ohio-specific loss figure or an investment-scam subtotal in the verified figures cited here.
The Massillon case comes amid substantial reported fraud losses among older Ohioans. WKYC reported that Ohio seniors lost more than $160 million to fraud, according to WKYC.
The FBI's 2023 Internet Crime Complaint Center report highlighted fraud targeting older Americans, according to the FBI. In the Massillon case, prosecutors allege the scheme involved repeated checks, a purported casino and resort investment, and a demand to pay a fictitious Chinese government fine.
