'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
A former Rhode Island art dealer convicted of defrauding a wide range of investors _ from a wealthy collector of Japanese swords to a school janitor _ was sentenced to 16 years in prison Thursday for his elaborate multimillion-dollar scheme.
A former Rhode Island art dealer was convicted Wednesday of defrauding a wide variety of investors _ from a wealthy Japanese sword collector to a school janitor _ in an elaborate multimillion-dollar con.
A federal prosecutor said during his closing argument Monday that a former Rhode Island art dealer charged in a $6 million fraud case is a ruthless con man, but a defense attorney countered that his client is the victim of his accountant, a greedy business partner and investors who want their money back.
As his trial drew to a close, a former Rhode Island art dealer said Friday that witnesses lied to the jury in claiming he duped them in what prosecutors call a $6 million con.
The inventor, Robert McKittrick _ a doctor whom a mutual friend introduced to DeSimone _ has testified that DeSimone promised to sell the device in exchange for a one-third stake in the Drink Stik patent.
Rocco DeSimone says his former business partners and investors who testified against him have falsely portrayed him as a con man who systematically defrauded them by lying about access to deep-pocketed business connections.
