Santa Monica Man Pleads Guilty To Running Online Romance Scam

SANTA MONICA, CA — A Santa Monica man pleaded guilty Wednesday to running a romance scam in which the ex-con deceived an actress and three other women into investing in his sham companies, only to take the money and spend it on himself.

Antonio Mariot Wilson, 57, who uses the names Dr. Tony Mariot and Brice Carrington, entered his plea to one federal count of wire fraud at a Los Angeles federal court hearing via videoconference.

Wilson faces up to 20 years in federal prison at sentencing, which is set for Sept. 28, prosecutors said.

Between May 2015 and October 2018, Wilson met four women on Bumble and other dating apps and convinced them to engage in romantic relationships before conning them into giving him a total of $387,000 for his purported businesses, court papers show.

One of Wilson's victims, whom he met at a gym where he worked as a manager, was actress Jenifer Lewis, whose credits include the television series, "black-ish" and the films "Beaches" and "Sister Act."

To create a false impression of legitimacy and prestige, Wilson falsely claimed to be a Navy SEAL, an Oxford University graduate and an Oxford professor teaching biblical antiquities at UCLA, according to his plea agreement.

Wilson induced his victims to invest in one of his two companies: Ultimate FX, which he claimed was a sound design company, and 2nd Life, a purported software business that he said was designed to provide animated instruction on applying for government benefits, court papers show.

Wilson admitted conning victims to invest in those companies by making false statements, such as claiming that the ABC television network and EA Sports video game developer had used Ultimate FX for their shows and games.

Wilson falsely claimed that investors—real people whose identities he used without authorization —had valued 2nd Life at more than $30 million and wanted to invest in the company. Wilson also falsely stated that 2nd Life had a present valuation of $3.2 million, court documents show.

In reality, Wilson stole the victims' money and used it to fund his own lifestyle and pay his own personal expenses, concealing the fact that he previously pleaded guilty to carrying out a very similar scheme to defraud Ultimate FX investors.

Wilson served a four-year term in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2009 to wire fraud and tax evasion charges in the Northern District of California, federal prosecutors said.

Wilson also admitted in his plea agreement that he sold unregistered 2nd Life securities by distributing "shareholder agreements" and "stock purchase agreements" to the victims. After accepting their funds, Wilson used the money to pay off his credit card debt, pay his rent and buy luxury items.

- City News Service