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COURIER L 20 IFE, MARCH 13-19, 2020
BETRAYAL
Mill Basin man sentenced
for stealing $440,000
from family, friends
Joseph Casertano of Mill Basin. Courtesy of DA’s Offi ce
BY JESSICA PARKS
A judge sentenced a
Mill Basin shyster to up
to six years in prison for
scamming more than
$440,000 from at least 22
people, including his own
family members, lifelong
friends, and neighbors.
“This defendant admittedly
cheated many
people, including friends
and family, out of thousands
of dollars in savings,
betraying their
trust,” said District Attorney
Eric Gonzalez.
Joseph Casertano, 57,
claimed to operate an investment
company, Shelter
Island Leverage, and
convinced his hapless
“clients” to invest in bogus
public offerings, accepting
installments that
started at $12,500, according
to the district attorney’s
offi ce.
The southern Brooklyn
swindler’s fi rst victim
was a man he befriended
at a local fi tness
center, who would go on
to recommend Casertano
to friends and family
after the con man reported
high returns on
his fi rst-round of investments.
Throughout the scam,
which lasted from Oct. 1,
2011 to July 31, 2017, Casertano
regularly fabricated
fake account numbers
and statements showing
phantom stock trades
and made-up account balances
to encourage further
investments.
But when his victims
requested to actually
withdraw their earnings,
the scammer claimed
that security regulations
prevented them from dipping
into the funds, although
he did occasionally
fork over modest
sums of cash.
In the end, however,
Casertano didn’t make
a single investment, or
open any accounts, instead
depositing investment
checks into his
personal accounts and
spending the money on
vacations, fi ne dining,
personal credit card payments
and cash withdrawals
amounting to
more than $200,000, prosecutors
said.
Casertano pleaded
guilty to second-degree
grand larceny on Sept.
25, 2019 and Brooklyn
Supreme Court Justice
Danny Chun sentenced
him to three to six years
imprisonment on March
4.
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