Three years after Richard S. Piccoli was sentenced to spend 20 years in prison for his alleged Ponzi scheme, his victims are finally going to recover some of the cash they invested. A federal judge in the case has recently said it will be possible for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay out funds to 613 investors harmed in the scam.
Piccoli allegedly used church bulletins and other means to lure priests and elderly church members into the Ponzi scheme, and he was said to have had 50 priests included on his client list. He was convicted and sentenced for the scheme back in 2009, but the fight to recover investors’ losses has been a long process.
Unfortunately, none of Piccoli’s investors will see the full amount of their money returned. The SEC is expected to pay out $6.2 million to harmed investors, but investors are said to have put at least $25 million into the alleged Ponzi scheme while it was active. The disbursements that will be paid out to investors range from $1,214 all the way up to $1.3 million. The payments have been estimated to represent about 25 cents on each dollar originally invested.
The $6.2 million being paid out to victims was acquired through the sale of Piccoli’s personal and business assets seized in relation to the civil suit again him. SEC attorney David P. Stoelting stated, “The SEC is pleased that its enforcement action has led to this disbursement of funds to victims of Richard Piccoli's massive investment fraud, which robbed hundreds of victims of their life savings.”
If you have suffered investment losses in a Ponzi scheme or investment scam, don’t wait until it’s too late to get help. Speak with an experienced Ponzi scheme attorney with Meyer Wilson today.
