Tag: financial crimes
Nicole Hilstolsky, Theft from a Financial Institution, Pennsylvania…
⏱ 2 min read Nicole Hilstolsky, 48, of Swoyersville, Pennsylvania is trading her freedom for eight months in a federal lockup after a pathetic attempt to cover up a $16,247 theft from the WOD Federal Credit Union. Back on October 15, 2018, Hilstolsky didn’t get robbed – she did the robbing, then dialed 911 with…
Donald Smith, Swindled Military for $1M+, Pittsburgh PA, 2019
⏱ 2 min read Donald Smith, a 75-year-old Pittsburgh vet-turned-contractor, is facing a long stretch behind bars after a federal jury slapped him with guilty verdicts on thirteen counts today. Smith’s company systematically ripped off the Defense Logistics Agency, the military’s supply chain, to the tune of over a million dollars between 2019 and 2023.…
Jeffrey Phares, Grave Marker Scam, Fayetteville WV, 2023
⏱ 3 min read Jeffrey Phares, 65, of Fayetteville, West Virginia, is a cold-hearted thief who preyed on families at their most vulnerable. The cemetery owner pleaded guilty to a massive fraud scheme where he pocketed cash from grieving relatives for grave markers, then failed to deliver. The scam unfolded across four cemeteries in North…
Frank Hamilton, SBA Loan Scam, CA, 2023
⏱ 2 min read Frank Hamilton, 55, of Simi Valley, California, is trading sunshine for a federal cell after a Philadelphia judge hit him with 66 months in prison yesterday. Hamilton masterminded a scheme to fleece banks and the Small Business Administration out of millions, filing bogus loan applications before the pandemic even started and…
No Defendant Name Found, Gift Card Scam, USA, 2023
⏱ 3 min read A shadowy network of overseas criminals drained millions from Americans over two years, using stolen funds to buy high-end electronics shipped out of the country. The scam, active from October 1, 2023, to September 1, 2025, preyed on vulnerable people through classic cons – elder fraud, romance scams, and outright hacking…
Nitesh Ratnakar, Tax Evasion, West Virginia, 2022
⏱ 3 min read Nitesh Ratnakar, 50, a gastroenterologist and medical equipment manufacturer from Elkins, West Virginia, is trading his stethoscope for stripes. Ratnakar was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison today in Clarksburg after admitting to cheating the IRS out of $2.5 million between 2020 and 2022. He ran a scheme where he…
Luciano Schipelliti, Crypto Investment Scam, Haverhill MA, 2021
⏱ 2 min read Luciano Schipelliti, 28, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, allegedly ran a two-year con that left investors nearly $625,000 in the hole. The feds say Schipelliti launched a pair of cryptocurrency investment funds – Superstars Fund in late 2018 and TTM Fund in February 2021 – then promptly lost their money on bad bets.…
Sark Wire Corporation, PPP Loan Fraud, Albany NY, 2020
⏱ 3 min read Albany manufacturer Sark Wire Corporation is on the hook for $1.9 million after admitting they cooked the books to grab COVID-19 relief money. Back in 2020, when the CARES Act was supposed to be a lifeline for struggling businesses, Sark Wire allegedly lied about its size to qualify for Paycheck Protection…
Crystal Renee Severson, Skimmed Application Fees, Gauley Bridge WV,…
⏱ 3 min read Gauley Bridge, WV – Crystal Renee Severson, 45, admitted in federal court she was quietly robbing the West Virginia Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists. For nearly two years, from August 2019 through January 2022, Severson, an administrative assistant, siphoned off over $1,855 in application fees, lining her own pockets. It wasn’t…
Christopher Furman, Embezzled $1.3M, Pittsburgh PA, 2024-2025
⏱ 3 min read Pittsburgh lawyer Christopher Furman, 53, is facing serious federal charges after allegedly hijacking over $1.3 million from the non-profit that keeps the historic Duquesne Incline chugging. Between October 2024 and September 2025, prosecutors say Furman, as President of the Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Heights Incline, systematically siphoned funds…
