Robert Piaro, Wire Fraud, New York 2025

Robert Piaro Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in New York

Robert Piaro, the 74-year-old treasurer of multiple political action committees (PACs), pleaded guilty to committing telemarketing wire fraud in connection with his scheme to defraud donors to his PACs through false and misleading statements.

According to the indictment, Piaro operated four PACs: Americans for the Cure of Breast Cancer, the Association for Emergency Responders & Firefighters, the US Veterans Assistance Foundation, and Standing By Veterans. He raised millions of dollars from hundreds of thousands of donors nationwide through false statements and misrepresentations about how contributions to the PACs would be spent.

Piaro's scheme involved misrepresenting to donors that donations would be used to advance specific legislation, educate lawmakers, and conduct and fund research, when in reality, he did not and did not intend to follow through on those representations.

The indictment also alleges that Piaro's actions not only undermined the trust of donors but also exploited their interest in supporting certain causes for his own personal gain.

Piaro is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Arun Subramanian on April 14, 2025, and faces up to 25 years in prison for one count of wire fraud in connection with telemarketing.

Anyone who believes they are a victim of fraud perpetrated by Piaro can contact USANYS.PACFraud@usdoj.gov or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/pac-treasurer-pleads-guilty-multi-year-scheme-defraud-pac-donors-0