Long Islanders, Florida men laundered more than $3M in stock scheme, prosecutors say
Two Long Islanders and two Floridians were charged with defrauding often elderly individuals of millions of dollars by persuading them to buy price-manipulated shares with a Plainview boiler room, federal prosecutors said.
Jeffrey Miller, 63, of Bellmore; Mark Burnett, 59, of Roslyn; Christian Romandetti, 58, of Indialantic, Florida; and Frank Sarro, 63, of Palm Bay, Florida, were charged with conspiring to commit securities and wire fraud and money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“As alleged, the defendants conducted a classic pump and dump scheme designed to defraud the investing public, many of whom were senior citizens, by pressuring them to purchase shares of the manipulated stock,” U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement. An indictment was unsealed in federal court in Central Islip on Thursday.
Romandetti was the CEO of First Choice Healthcare Solutions Inc., based in Melbourne, Florida, according to prosecutors. He and the three other defendants, along with other individuals, are alleged to have carried out schemes with Plainview-based boiler room Elite Stock Research from May 2013 to June 2016.
Read more: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/health-care-fraud-scheme-1.23472808