A mother and son, charged with fraud in connection with Ponzi scheme and phony ticket resale business have pled guilty to the charges against them.
Alberta RCMP charged Anthony Pittarelli, 45, and his mother Marisa Pittarelli (a.k.a. Giovanna Campanelli-Pittarelli) both residents of Lethbridge, with seven counts of fraud. On December 10, the pair pled guilty to all charges.
Police say that the Pittarellis invited investors to buy shares in an event ticket reselling business.
In the business, tickets for popular events such as concerts or sports games, were claimed to be bought and resold at a profit.
However, the reselling business was phony and the money the pair bilked investors out of over $1.3M.
That money was used to repay previous investors the Pittarellis had deceived and for their own personal gain.
"Too many people fall victim to these schemes every year. This investigation is one of several investment fraud investigations brought to court by IMET and Financial Integrity in recent years" says Insp. Gord Sereda, Officer in Charge of the RCMP’s Integrated Market Team and Financial Integrity in a release. "Recent investment fraud and Ponzi scheme cases we've investigated that have gone to court have affected hundreds of investors who lost many millions of dollars. We hope that through awareness, prevention, investigation and disruption, IMET and Financial Integrity can help reduce the number of people whose financial futures are put in serious jeopardy by falling victim to these schemes."
Sentencing for Anthony and Marisa Pittarelli is scheduled for April 20, 2015, in Lethbridge.
Further information about Investment and Security frauds can be found at http://www.rcmp.gc.ca/scams-fraudes/inv-fra-eng.htm.
