3 charged in alleged $10 million fraud

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced felony charges Thursday against three men who allegedly operated an international investment fraud scheme that defrauded more than 70 victims of $10 million.

Christopher Mancuso, John Black and Joseph Tufo — all California residents — were charged with operating a fraudulent securities scheme, grand theft and investment fraud, according to the attorney general’s office. The criminal complaint includes 32 felony charges.

Tufo, 69, of Antioch and Mancuso, 62, of Dana Point (Orange County) were arrested Thursday in Contra Costa County and Orange County, respectively. The third defendant, Black, remains at large, but authorities believe the 53yearold is in or near Sacramento County.

The defendants allegedly lured victims by promising large returns on investments in companies called Financial Tree Trust, Financial Solutions Group Trust and New Money Advisors LLC. In one instance, the men promised they could triple a $25,000 investment in four months, prosecutors said. In another case, they allegedly said they would quadruple $100,000 in three months.

After receiving the money, the defendants allegedly told victims various lies, ignored calls and emails, and pocketed the money. Prosecutors said some victims were told their money couldn’t be returned because of delays caused by the COVID19 pan

demic.

Each victim lost a minimum of tens of thousands of dollars. The victims lived across the world, including the Bay Area, California and other states, Canada, Germany, England and Italy.

“We’re talking about people who were potentially cheated out of their retirement, college tuition for their kids, maybe their life savings,” Becerra said during a news conference Thursday.

The scheme took place between March 2015 and January 2020. California’s Department of Justice and White Collar Investigations Team teamed up to lead the investigation.

Becerra warned the public to watch out for these kinds of financial schemes.

“If it seems too good to be true, then it probably isn’t true,” he said. “These kinds of scams aren’t new.”

Authorities froze the bank assets and cryptocurrency of the defendants.