Scammer Steals Money from 82-Year Old Woman, Other Senior Citizens to Pay for Porsche, Luxury Mansion
Scammer Steals Money from 82-Year Old Woman, Other Senior Citizens to Pay for Porsche, Luxury Mansion
STATEN ISLAND – New York businessman Joseph Mazella drove a Porsche, lived in an opulent mansion, and was a successful real estate businessman. At least, that’s what he wanted his
fraud
victims to believe, so he could more easily part them from their money. Among his victims were many unsophisticated senior citizens, including an 82-year old woman. Many of those victims sat in a Brooklyn federal courtroom on February 9 and listened to the jury deliver its “Guilty” verdict after a dramatic trial.
At his trial, the 82-year old woman cried as she recounted how she was taken by the crook. The woman recounted to the jury in detail how Mazella took thousands of dollars of her life savings from her.
Through lies and carefully orchestrated deception, Mazella stole millions of dollars from scores of investors who entrusted him with their life savings, according to New York federal prosecutors. Typically, according to court records, Mazella approached elderly investors and told them about his “investment opportunities” in real estate. Such opportunities, Mazella assured his investors, were safe and offered above-market returns.
Unbeknownst to his victims, Mazella’s opportunities were all smoke and mirrors. Starting in 2007, Mazella stopped investing his victims’ money in real estate altogether. Instead, he bought a Porsche, made mortgage payments on his mansion, and used investor money to pay later investors, in Ponzi scheme fashion.
To make matters worse, Mazella encouraged his investors to mortgage their homes so they could raise more money to invest with him. Now that his Ponzi scheme collapsed, those investors are doubly hurt: after losing their hard-earned money, they stand to also lose their homes.
Mazella’s scam came to a halt in January, 2011. He was indicted by federal prosecutors soon thereafter. His trial ended last week with a conviction for fraud and money laundering. When sentenced, Mazella may get as much as 25 years in prison.
