Six New Jersey residents cheated 15 investors out of roughly $3 million through the sale of bogus investments, authorities alleged Tuesday.
The defendants face several charges including conspiracy, racketeering and money laundering.
Among them are George Bussanich Sr., 56, and his son, George Jr., 35, who last year agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle claims stemming from a similar investment scheme that victimized 26 investors.
State authorities said Tuesday that some investors were cheated in both schemes. They also claim that some of the funds obtained in the latter crime were used to make "penalty payments" stemming from the earlier one.
They say that immediately after the Bussanichs settled the claims last year, they allegedly solicited more than $3 million from the 15 investors. That violated a consent order that barred them from selling securities in New Jersey.
It wasn't known Tuesday if the Bussanichs have retained attorneys who could comment on the charges.
"The audacity of these defendants is astounding," acting Attorney General John Hoffman said. "The game is up for these con artists," who could face several decades in prison if convicted on all counts.
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Also arrested were George Bussanich Sr.'s wife, Wilma Bussanich, 54, and three others: Heidi Francavilla, 56, of Park Ridge; Robert G. Schooley, 64, of Park Ridge; and Brendan M. Byrne, 44, of Paterson.
Authorities claim the six defendants conspired to avoid the strictures of the consent order that settled last year's claims and laundered the fraudulently obtained investor funds through the use of multiple shell corporations.
They say the defendants diverted most of the investor funds for their personal use and also used new investor funds to make penalty payments required under the consent order.
