Michael Salerno, Wire Fraud, New Jersey 2023

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Table of Contents

Defendant’s Scheme Left Investors Reeling

Michael Salerno, 55, of Mount Laurel, New Jersey, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for his role in a complex wire fraud scheme that left hundreds of investors out of more than $549,000.

According to court documents, Salerno operated a series of businesses, including Black Diamond Forex, L.P., BDF Trading, L.P., Advanta Capital Markets, Inc., and Advanta FX, each of which purported to be in the business of trading foreign currencies.

Using a variety of misrepresentations and omissions, Salerno induced victims to pay advance fees — up-front payments of typically more than $1,000 — in order to be hired by Salerno’s company. He told the victims that, upon their hiring, he would make available to them a pool of $10 million that they could trade on the foreign currency market and take a generous cut of any profits.

But Salerno’s scheme was nothing more than a house of cards, designed to part investors from their hard-earned cash. He held himself out as a sophisticated and successful businessman, claiming to have managed a real estate empire and to have made a profit from his currency-trading venture — neither of which was true.

Salerno’s scheme came to a halt when he was advised that he was the target of an FBI investigation and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sought and obtained an injunction against Salerno and his businesses in 2018. But Salerno didn’t let that stop him. He turned immediately to a second scheme, operating a company called AccuOne Financial, Inc., which purported to be in the business of assisting clients in ridding themselves of unwanted automobile leases.

But Salerno failed to do as promised, instead ripping off clients who wanted to get out of their leases or those who could not obtain their own leases. He took the unwanted vehicles from the first set of clients, made few, if any, of the required lease payments, and then gave the vehicles to the second set of clients, in exchange for substantial monthly fees.

“Michael Salerno is a modern-day snake oil salesman,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero. “Upon learning that his fraud scheme had caught the FBI’s attention, he didn’t close up shop and clean up his act – he simply pivoted to a different scheme. Today’s sentence holds him accountable for the harm he’s caused and brings a measure of justice for his victims.”

Salerno’s sentence includes 37 months in prison and an order to pay restitution in the amount of $549,835. His crimes are a stark reminder of the importance of being vigilant and doing thorough research before investing in any business venture.