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Investors fear Ponzi scheme by Hauppauge firm
HAUPPAUGE - Concerned investors are coming forward after learning the owner of a Hauppauge finance company is under federal investigation for possible fraud.
Nick Cosmo, president and CEO of Agape World, promised his investors annual returns of 8 to 12 percent. Cosmo’s company makes commercial bridge loans and made Entrepreneur magazine’s list of the 100 fastest growing businesses in the country.
Some investors tell News 12 Long Island they think Cosmo has ripped them off.
"I think we all got taken,” says Tony Mannuzza, a Con Ed retiree from Port Jefferson. He says he considers Cosmo another Bernie Madoff. The New York City investor is accused of losing $50 billion in a Ponzi scheme.
Unbeknownst to many investors, Cosmo spent 21 months in prison on fraud and swindling charges. He was released in 2000, when he started Agape. In a letter to investors, Cosmo said Agape had been impacted by the financial banking crisis and was not accepting new clients.
Cosmo denied he was running a Ponzi scheme and said he was concentrating on "returning all principal back to his clients."
The U.S. Attorney's Office would only tell News 12 Long Island that an arrest warrant has been issued for Cosmo. The exact charges are unknown. Agents have been dispatched to locations in Hauppauge and Queens.
http://www.news12.com/LI/topstories/article?id=224730
Memphis Lawyers , Oklahoma City Lawyers
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S.E.C. Report Details Lapses i
