New York man sentenced to prison in $1.6 million investment fraud

MISSOULA — A New York man who admitted defrauding investors, including a Montana resident, in a $1.6 million scheme was sentenced today to three years in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,643,073 restitution, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Christopher Fulco, 44, of Staten Island, N.Y., also known as Christian Anthony, pleaded guilty on July 17 to mail fraud, money laundering and securities fraud.

U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided. Fulco was released and allowed to self-report to prison.

“Montanans are used to taking people at their word. Those who exploit that trust to commit fraud will be caught, prosecuted and jailed,” U.S. Attorney Alme said.

In court documents filed in the case, the prosecution said Fulco, operating as JM Capital in New York, took money from 11 victims in a scheme that ran from 2014 to 2019. Fulco solicited funds in exchange for shares of stock in two companies, identified as Company 1 and Company 2. Fulco failed to obtain any shares of stock, and instead, spent the money on himself. One of Fulco’s victims is a Montana resident. When Fulco’s victims agreed to buy stock from him, Fulco deposited their money into his JM Capital Citibank account. He was the only signor on the account. Bank records indicated that Fulco spent the money on himself, including making large cash deposits and debit card transactions at casinos in Atlantic City.

At sentencing, Judge Molloy noted that Fulco was responsible for defrauding the Montana investor of more than $350,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Racicot prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI.

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