Haverhill Grifter Bilked Investors $700K

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BOSTON – A 28-year-old Haverhill man is staring down federal charges after allegedly running a two-year scam that fleeced investors out of around $700,000. Luciano Schipelliti is accused of losing the money in bad cryptocurrency bets and then covering it up with a string of lies.

The feds say Schipelliti started with the “Superstars Fund” in late 2018, raking in roughly $275,000 from investors with promises of crypto profits. By 2019, that money was gone, vanished in a series of losing trades. But instead of coming clean, Schipelliti allegedly started sending out bogus monthly reports claiming the fund was still growing.

The deception continued. In February 2021, Schipelliti launched a second fund – the “TTM Fund” – leveraging the fake success of the Superstars Fund to pull in another $350,000. That money also disappeared by September 2021, allegedly lost on more crypto gambles and, according to court papers, partially misused.

Schipelliti has agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud. If convicted, he’s facing a maximum of 20 years in prison, plus fines and supervised release. This isn’t a victimless crime; these were people’s savings he played with.

The case is being prosecuted by the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The FBI’s Boston division is handling the investigation.

It’s important to remember that the charges are allegations at this point, and Schipelliti is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.