ORLANDO, Fla.–The operator of a bogus credit union here has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Samuel J. Cusumano, Jr., 65, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with the fraudulent solicitation of more than $17 million from 400 investors of what was called “Storehouse Credit Union,” which was registered in Sweden.
The plea was entered in the Northern District of Florida.
Cusumano admitted that between 2007 and 2009, as the chairman of the board of Storehouse, he promoted what was called an international credit union as a high yield investment opportunity through intentionally misleading presentations and materials. Cusumano fraudulently induced investors to transfer monies to investment accounts under Cusumano’s control by misrepresenting the rates of return being generated by the business.
According to the plea, Storehouse claimed to use professional currency traders when, in fact, Cusumano personally executed all trades from his home, investing primarily in the Foreign Currency Exchange Market. Although the business was actually losing money, Cusumano created fraudulent financial statements to convince investors that Storehouse was reaching or exceeding the high rates of return that Cusumano had promised them. When investors discovered that they were unable to withdraw their funds due to trading losses, a financial audit was conducted.
The audit revealed that investor funds had been depleted, that earnings had been overstated and that Cusumano had used a large portion of the investors’ money.
Cusumano faces a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment. The charges result from an investigation by the IRS—Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.