Sarasota Man Sentenced To Prison For Investment Fraud

Tampa, FL –U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich has sentenced Gaeton Della Penna (62, Sarasota) to five years and ten months in federal prison for mail and wire fraud related to an investment scheme.  As part of his sentence, the court ordered restitution for his victims and entered a money judgment of more than $2.8 million, representing the proceeds of fraud. Della Penna pleaded guilty on May 5, 2015.

According to court documents, Della Penna enticed investors to invest in his “investment funds” by guaranteeing them at least 5% yearly interest on their investment, with the principal to be returned at the end of an 18-month period, minus a nominal management/organizational fee paid to Della Penna, plus any trading profits.  These representations were false.  Rather than making profitable trades and protecting investors’ principal, Della Penna used a portion of the investors’ money for trading, lost money in his trades, and misappropriated the rest of the investors’ money by using it to repay other investors’ principal.  False statements and “quarterly” interest checks were sent to the investors to entice them to invest more money.  Della Penna also paid personal expenditures with the investors’ money, including mortgage payments on his waterfront residence.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Sarasota Police Department.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelley Howard-Allen.