Haverhill Man Charged with Investment Fraud

BOSTON - A Haverhill man was charged in federal court in Boston with fraudulently obtaining $350,000 in investor funds.

Luciano Schipelliti, 28, was charged with one count of wire fraud and has agreed to plead guilty before Senior United States District Judge F. Dennis Saylor on a date to be set by the Court.

According to the charging documents, in the fall of 2018, Schipelliti established the Superstars Fund and raised roughly $275,000 to invest in cryptocurrency. By 2019, through a series of bad investments, Schipelliti allegedly lost all the money in the Superstars Fund. He did not, however, tell any of the investors that he had lost the money. Instead, according to the charging documents, beginning in approximately November 2020, Schipelliti began sending monthly newsletters to investors that falsely reported that the Superstars Fund continued to grow in value.

Based on the misrepresented performance of the Superstars Fund, in approximately February 2021, Schipelliti allegedly launched a new fund, the TTM Fund. He raised approximately $350,000 to invest in cryptocurrency. Schipelliti allegedly lost all the money in the TTM fund by September 2021. According to the charging documents, Schipelliti lost most of the money in the TTM Fund investing in cryptocurrency and also used some of the money in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the TTM Fund's operating agreement.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the 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, Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.