Joseph Anthony Veltre Gets 18 Years and Must Pay $2.6 Million for Vast Ponzi Scheme


Just found this in my spam filter folder: A hard money lender got 18 years
in state prison this week for stealing $2.6 million from investors in a Ponzi and
real estate fraud scheme.

Joseph Anthony Veltre, 68, of Orange, also must pay $2.6 million (that he hopefully wasn't planning to spend here) in restitution after cutting a deal to plead
guilty to 112 felony counts covering a range of financial mayhem.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office breaks down the case after the jump . . .
]


August 31, 2010




HARD MONEY LENDER SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS IN PRISON FOR STEALING OVER $2.6
MILLION FROM INVESTORS IN PONZI AND REAL ESTATE FRAUD SCHEME



SANTA ANA – A hard money lender was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in
state prison for stealing $2.6 million from investors in a Ponzi and
real estate fraud scheme. Joseph Anthony Veltre, 68, Orange, pleaded
guilty to a court offer to 112 felony counts including 60 counts of
grand theft, 17 counts of elder financial exploitation by a
non-caregiver, 17 counts of residential burglary, 13 counts of forgery,
three counts of recording false documents, one count of commercial
burglary, one count of identity theft, and white collar crime sentencing
enhancements for loss over $500,000. Veltre was sentenced to 18 years
in state prison and ordered to pay over $2,649,000 in restitution.




Between 2002 and 2007, Veltre defrauded eight people in a Ponzi and real
estate fraud scheme. A “Ponzi” scheme is a fraudulent scheme that
offers investors high, short-term returns on investments. Instead of
using the money to generate actual income and legitimate profits, the
money from the investors is kept for the benefit of the defendant or
used to repay earlier investors.




Using his two Orange County-based businesses, Sea View Financial and
Allied Corporate Investments, Veltre operated as a hard money lender by
soliciting money from private investors for borrowers looking for funds
from non-bank lenders. The term “hard money lender” is used when a
lender solicits money from private investors for borrowers looking for
funds from non-bank lenders. He stole from his private investors, most
of whom are now retired and elderly, by keeping the money they lent for
borrowers looking to take out second and third mortgages and not funding
the loan as promised. Veltre operated a Ponzi scheme and used funds
from new investors to pay off older investors.




The Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) began investigating Veltre
after receiving complaints from some of the victims and arrested him on
May 4, 2009.




Written victim impact statements were submitted to the court for
consideration at sentencing. One victim, a volunteer with the NBPD,
stated that, “At my age of 92, there is little, if any, hope of
recovery, and of course my living expenses had to be drastically reduced
as well as very little left in my will to the children.” Another victim
wrote that Veltre's fraud has impacted his ability to help and to
educate his grandchildren.




Deputy District Attorney
George McFetridge of the White Collar Crime Team prosecuted this case.

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