Purported Loan Broker Indicted for Advance Fee and Prepaid Interest Fraud Schemes
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced on November 4 that an indictment was unsealed at the federal court in Central Islip charging Nicholas Del Franco, the owner and operator of purported financial services companies in New York and California, with seven counts of wire fraud, in connection with numerous overlapping advance fee and prepaid interest fraud schemes targeting businesses, real estate developers, and individuals in search of financing. Del Franco was arrested that morning and was arraigned that afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields.
Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James C. Barnacle Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Office, announced the charges. "As alleged, Del Franco engaged in years-long overlapping schemes designed to steal millions of dollars from borrowers who believed they were paying required fees and upfront interest to secure loans," Nocella said. FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle said borrowers deserve transparency and honesty when entering into loan agreements, not deception and fraud.
As set forth in the indictment and other filings, from approximately November 2023 to the present, Del Franco, the owner and operator of Quattro Capital LLC and Ares 2811 Corporation, engaged in advance fee and prepaid interest fraud schemes targeting prospective borrowers in search of financing. His victims, over a dozen of whom have been identified to date, included businesses, real estate developers, and individuals. As part of these schemes, Del Franco falsely claimed to be a legitimate loan broker with access to substantial funding sources and lines of credit, including banks and private lenders, and purported to offer prospective borrowers multi-million-dollar loans with highly attractive terms for construction, real estate development, and business expansion.
The schemes included: a line of credit advance fee scheme, in which Del Franco falsely claimed to have access to a $100 million line of credit from a financial institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, to which prospective borrowers would be given full access in exchange for an upfront escrow payment of $5 million; a "family office" funding prepaid interest scheme, in which he falsely claimed to represent a wealthy family whose family office was seeking to extend multi-million dollar loans for construction and infrastructure projects but required an upfront payment of a percentage of the full loan amount as prepaid interest; and a private investors prepaid interest scheme with the same structure. In each scheme, after the prospective borrowers paid the upfront funds, the promised loans and access to lines of credit never materialized, and Del Franco stole the money for himself. In total, he defrauded over a dozen prospective borrowers of more than $5 million.
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Del Franco faces up to 20 years' imprisonment on each of the seven counts. The government's case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office's Long Island Division, and Assistant United States Attorney Michael R. Maffei is in charge of the prosecution. Victims of the scheme may call the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). The defendant, Nicholas Del Franco, also known as "Nicholas Thomas," is 39 and lives in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. (Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York)
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部大楼（GSM固定图库）。美国政府作品，公共领域。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (GSM file photo). U.S. government work, public domain.
