LOUISIANA: A Louisiana man charged with scamming investors and banks out of more than $96 million is accused of disguising himself as an Orthodox Jewish businessman to raise money from a New York private equity group.
A federal indictment issued Thursday says 56-year-old David deBerardinis of Shreveport represented himself as a businessman in the petroleum industry and used false identities, phony bank statements and bogus news articles to perpetuate a fraud scheme that began in 2008 and lasted until at least 2016.
The indictment says deBerardinis hired a professional makeup artist for the disguise he used in 2013 to get more investor funds from an unidentified private equity group based in New York.
He’s charged with wire fraud and attempted bank fraud. It wasn’t immediately clear if he has an attorney.
Man accused of using makeup artist for ‘Jewish businessman’ disguise in fraud scheme worth $96m
Man accused of using makeup artist for ‘Jewish businessman’ disguise in fraud scheme worth $96m
