Jewelry Wholesaler Pleads Guilty In $200M Ponzi Scheme: Feds

QUEENS, NY — A jewelry wholesaler pleaded guilty to federal charges in a $200 million Ponzi scheme that duped more than 80 investors across Queens, Staten Island and Long Island, prosecutors announced.

Gregory Altieri, of Melville, Long Island, was accused of soliciting investments in a phony scheme to buy jewelry at "closeout" prices and resell the pieces for much more, according to federal prosecutors.

Altieri, 35, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and securities fraud in federal court Wednesday. He faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

“With today’s guilty plea, Altieri is held accountable for duping dozens of investors, including retirees living off their pensions,” Seth DuCharme, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. “The defendant’s lies have caught up to him and he will now face the consequences of his fraudulent scheme.”

Altieri's investors, who included current and retired police officers and firefighters, put a combined $75 million to $85 million into the scheme starting in August 2017.

Altieri, president of the jewelry wholesaler LNA Associates, promised returns of 30 to 70 percent in a matter of months.

Instead, he used money from new investors to pay back his earlier investors and convince them to put their cash toward new investments, which he claimed he would use to buy more jewelry, prosecutors said.

By the time Altieri stopped paying back his investors, in January 2020, he owed them $200 million, according to prosecutors.

A grand jury indicted Altieri in July. He originally pleaded not guilty.