A prison inmate serving time for running a Ponzi scheme has been charged with managing a $10 million nationwide real estate fraud scheme while he was incarcerated.
According to court documents, Seth Adam Depiano of Clovis, California, was sentenced in 2018 to more than 12 years in prison for running a $24 million fraud scheme. But while serving that sentence in federal prisons in the states of Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Florida in 2021 and 2022, Depiano managed a real estate fraud scheme utilizing a network of co-conspirators located across the country. While using contraband phones and computers and hiding behind fictitious identities “Marcus Lazaro” and “Steven Baron Sr.,” Depiano posed as a real estate broker who represented clients who wanted to sell property.
Depiano, who is not a real estate broker, marketed and sold properties he did not own and did not have the authority to sell. He used his co-conspirators to meet with potential investors, to conduct financial transactions, and conduct other activities on his behalf. In total, Depiano and his co-conspirators obtained approximately $10 million from victims in California, Nevada and elsewhere.
After receiving the money from the duped investors, Depiano and his co-conspirators laundered the funds through Las Vegas casinos and other businesses. They also formed shell companies to purchase and hold real estate using victim funds, and wired victim funds overseas. Once Depiano and his co-conspirators had received the victim funds, they laundered the money through Las Vegas casinos, using international wire transfers and shell companies, purchased properties, and invested in legitimate businesses.
Depiano has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and aggravated identity theft. Depiano is still incarcerated and his next court date is scheduled for July 16. If convicted, Depiano faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison wire fraud and mail fraud, plus a mandatory minimum penalty of two years consecutive for aggravated identity theft.
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