A North Beach 'investment consultant' named Joseph "Giuseppe" Viola was indicted in federal court in S.F. yesterday on multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft after defrauding at least 60 people out of $7 million between 2004 and 2010.
As the Chron reports, Viola was running a Ponzi scheme of sorts, sending investors falsified statements about the profitability of their fictional accounts. He used $2 million of the money to design and build a custom sports car called the "SV 9 Competizione," and presumably spent the rest of the money on similarly indulgent stuff. Also, he used the name of a dead man to open accounts and conduct the scheme.
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