A Haverhill resident, Luciano Schipelliti, was charged in federal court in Boston on Mar. 18 with wire fraud after allegedly obtaining $350,000 from investors through false claims about cryptocurrency funds.
The case highlights concerns about transparency and honesty in investment management, especially involving emerging assets like cryptocurrency.
According to charging documents, Schipelliti, 28, established the Superstars Fund in the fall of 2018 and raised approximately $275,000 to invest in cryptocurrency. By 2019, he had lost all the money through unsuccessful investments but did not inform his investors. Instead, starting around November 2020, Schipelliti began sending monthly newsletters to investors that falsely reported continued growth of the fund’s value.
Based on these misrepresentations, Schipelliti launched a new venture called the TTM Fund in February 2021 and raised an additional $350,000 for cryptocurrency investments. He allegedly lost all of this money by September 2021 and used some funds inconsistently with the TTM Fund’s operating agreement. The charge of wire fraud carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge according to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Division announced the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman is prosecuting the case.
Authorities remind that “the details contained in the charging document are allegations” and that “the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”