Five Sentenced for Roles in $6 Million Investment Fraud

Tallahassee, Fla. – The Florida Office of Financial Regulation today announced the sentencing of Angela Monaco (more than six years), Pasquale Rubbo (more than eight years) and Steven Dykes (nine years) to prison after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. Previously sentenced to prison were co-defendants Joseph Rubbo (five years) and Nicholas Rubbo (four years) after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud. All defendants were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, and pay restitution totaling more than $6 million.

Interim Commissioner Pamela Epting said, “Thank you to our investigative team, along with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation team, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver, CO, for their assistance in bringing these scammers to justice. The Florida Office of Financial Regulation remains committed to working with our partners to protect Floridians from financial criminals.”

Through their companies, VIP Television, Inc. (VIP TV), The Spongebuddy, LLC (The Scrubbieglove, LLC), and ANJ Productions, Inc., the group defrauded investors out of more than $6 million by making false statements and representations related to securities offerings. The group promised unrealistically high returns, fake proposed mergers, exaggerated demands for the spongebuddy product and the existence of celebrity investors to entice victims to invest.

Visit OFR’s  Consumer Resources.