A Jersey City man with a Bayonne deli was sentenced to 37 months in prison for conniving two investors out of $3.4 million by falsely claiming his businesses had secured major contracts to sell olive oil to major retailers, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Antonio Fasolino, 62, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael Vazquez to all four counts against him: three counts of wire fraud and one count of transacting in criminal proceeds. Vazquez imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
Fasolino owned several companies that were purportedly involved in the manufacture, sale and distribution of pasta, tomato sauce, olive oil and other food products.
In 2012, Fasolino obtained approximately $3.4 million from two victims by falsely representing that Fasolino’s companies had been awarded lucrative contracts to sell olive oil, authorities said.
However, there were never any such contracts. Fasolino supplied the victims with altered bank statements and spent the money on himself, including car and mortgage payments, apartment rentals, a wedding, college tuition and credit card payments.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Vazquez sentenced Fasolino to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $3.4 million.
Fasolino was arrested shortly after his deli was raided by the FBI in June 2016.
