Friday, January 21, 2011

End of a Scam

Do you remember the story of Samuel Serritella, the Garfield man who was accused of bilking people who had invested in his scheme to make rubberized horseshoes? He was sentenced last week to nine years in prison, and ordered to pay back $1.7 million in restitution to his "investors."

There were many noxious things about the Serritella story, including the fact that he preyed largely on firefighters and police officers. He never even tried to make any horseshoes, instead using his investors' money for personal purposes. Perhaps most telling: Serritella sold shares in his company, International Surfacing, that weren't registered with the Bureau of Securities, and Serritella was not authorized to sell securities in New Jersey in the first place. Anyone looking to fund a legitimate business will do these kinds of things on the up and up.

Also, Serritella enticed investors by telling them he had already made a sale to a prince in Dubai, who was buying rubberized shoes for his camels. But unlike horses, camels don't wear shoes.

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