Perry Santillo, Mail Fraud, Pennsylvania 2019

A Rochester man has pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a multi-million dollar nationwide Ponzi scheme that left investors in the Middle District of Pennsylvania with millions of dollars in losses.

Perry Santillo, age 39, of Rochester, New York, pleaded guilty on November 4, 2019, to mail fraud in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Santillo admitted to defrauding investors around the country as part of a Ponzi scheme that included victims in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Santillo admitted as part of his plea that the scheme took in approximately $115 million in fraudulent investments, and resulted in a total loss to investors of $70.7 million.

Perry Santillo was a founder, member, manager, and CEO of First Nationle Solution, LLC. Santillo offered and sold securities in First Nationle, Percipience Global Corporation, United RL Capital Services LLC, and other issuers to investors. Santillo also provided investment advice to those same investors.

In fact, First Nationle, Percipience Global and United RL did not conduct their purported businesses. Rather, Santillo and others working with him operated each business primarily as a Ponzi scheme by issuing securities in the form of promissory notes, soliciting and then misappropriating substantial amounts of investor funds, and using some remaining investor funds to pay off redeeming investors.

As part of the scheme, Santillo and others travelled the country and bought books of business from investment professionals such as registered representatives and investment advisors.

Among the victim investors defrauded in the Middle District of Pennsylvania was an individual with the initials “JP.” Victim JP first invested $159,000 in First Nationle in September 2015, and invested another $380,000 in June 2016. In 2017, JP also invested twice in United RL, the first an investment of $20,000 and the second $52,000. Santillo and confederates also induced JP to invest $325,000 in a third fraudulent issuer. JP was repaid only $15,000, and was defrauded of $1,144,000.

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