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Local Resident Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Investment Scheme
A federal indictment charges Steven Andiloro, 51, of Mooresville, North Carolina, with operating a multi-million dollar investment fraud scheme and fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds.
According to the indictment, Andiloro operated the investment fraud scheme from 2018 to 2021, inducing victims to invest their money in businesses that were both real and fictitious. The indictment alleges that Andiloro promised some of his victim investors their money would be invested in a non-existent marijuana dispensary business in exchange for a ten percent ownership stake.
However, instead of investing his victims’ money as promised, Andiloro used the funds to pay for personal expenses and to make Ponzi-style payments to other investors. The indictment also alleges that Andiloro fraudulently obtained funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by submitting fraudulent applications for COVID-19 relief loans intended for businesses that suffered economic hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result of the scheme, the indictment alleges that Andiloro received more than $2.6 million in fraudulently obtained relief funds, which he used to fund his personal lifestyle and to make payments in furtherance of the investment fraud scheme.
The indictment charges Andiloro with securities fraud and wire fraud, which carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine for each offense, and money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Billings with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuting the case.
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is a result of an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, and the SBA-OIG.
Andiloro’s case is another example of the Attorney General’s commitment to combating pandemic-related fraud and protecting the public from those who seek to exploit the crisis for personal gain.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/coronavirus
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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