SILVER ‘ PONZI’ IN- LAW
Rap for $ 7M ‘ fraud’
The son-in-law of indicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was busted by the feds Monday on charges of running a $ 7 million Ponzi scheme.
Marcello Trebitsch, who is married to Silver’s daughter, Michelle, allegedly promised his victims doubledigit returns with very low risk before the scam collapsed last December.
Trebitsch, 37, of Brooklyn, claimed he would use investors’ money to buy largecap stocks through Allese Capital LLC, a firm he coowns with his wife, who is a CPA, a complaint unsealed Monday said.
But he actually invested only a portion of the funds — and racked up “enormous trading losses” that he kept secret, the feds say. He then allegedly spent the rest on himself, his wife and to pay back other investors.
The charges against Trebitsch, according to sources, are not connected to the federal probe of Silver, who is fighting corruption charges and was forced to give up the leadership post in Albany he held formore than two decades.
“Investing in securities entails certain risks, but should not include the risk of being defrauded by one’s investment manager,” said Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bhahara.
Trebitsch appeared Monday in Manhattan federal court, where he was released on $ 500,000 bond after being charged in the two-count complaint with securities and wire fraud.
He faces up to 40 years behind bars and $ 5.25 million in fines.
Trebitsch allegedly ran the scheme from 2009 through December 2014, promising annual returns in the range of 14 to 16 percent.
Although Silver’s daughter has not been charged with any wrongdoing, the complaint notes that she is a coowner and managing partner in Allese and that she “kept the books” for the company.
Silver in January was arrested for allegedly lining his pockets with nearly $ 4 million in bribes and kickbacks in an abuse of power dating to at least 2000.
The Lower East Side Democrat remains an Assemblyman and has said he’s “confident” he will be “vindicated in the courtroom.”