In Albany, New York, a newly detailed financial assessment suggests the scope of alleged fraud from Prime Capital Ventures could be much more extensive than initially feared, with customer losses potentially topping $120 million.
Overview of Prime Capital Ventures and the Investigation
Prime Capital Ventures, led by Kris Roglieri of Queensbury, offered business owners attractive loan terms that required a 20% cash deposit of the loan’s value, purportedly to cover interest payments, without the need for a personal guarantee. This structure made the loans highly appealing but also unusually risky for the lenders.
The firm is now at the center of a federal criminal investigation triggered by customer complaints alleging that Roglieri misappropriated tens of millions in deposits meant to secure these loans. These developments followed several customers claiming that they never received the loans they applied for and that their deposits were never returned.
Details from the Receiver’s Investigation
Paul Levine, a Saratoga Springs attorney appointed as the receiver in January by a federal judge, has been diligently working to untangle the firm’s complex financial web.
His findings have led to a stark reassessment of the situation:
Financial Discrepancies Initially, the estimated missing funds were about $50 million, but recent investigations have revealed even more severe discrepancies. Levine’s detailed scrutiny of Roglieri’s personal and business bank accounts showed a troubling picture, with $99 million initially deposited at Farmers Bank and $83 million at KeyBank and Citibank.
Recovery Efforts Although about $57 million has been returned to customers, there remains approximately $125 million unaccounted for. Levine's efforts to trace and secure assets to repay customers continue, assisted by the area accounting firm BST & Co. CPAs.
Timeline of Events The timeline highlighted by Levine’s reports shows that the bulk of the questionable financial transactions occurred between September 2022 and January 2023. During this period, over $140 million cycled through Prime Capital Venture’s Citibank account alone.
Luxurious Expenditures and Legal Issues In addition to the financial irregularities, Levine’s reports also outline significant spending by Kris Roglieri on luxury items such as cars, watches, artwork, and chartered plane travel. The FBI has seized much of Roglieri's luxury car collection during raids in early 2023. Though currently not charged with financial crimes in federal court, Roglieri faces two felony weapons charges after an assault rifle and a high-capacity magazine were found at his residence.
NACLB Affected
One of the businesses owned by Kris Roglieri is the NACLB ( National Association of Commercial Loan Brokers). Recently we noticed some information about the NACLB website and registration page. It says Registration is Closed for the Nov 3 NACLB Conference, which is extremely unusual this far out. When trying to visit the regular NACLB website on Google Chrome it says it cannot provide a secure connection and in the web browser Microsoft Edge it says 'the connection for this site is not secure'.
This isn't a promising sign for the conference.
Update: Former employees of the NACLB have started a new conference and the NACLB conference is no longer going forward although we have not seen a formal announcement. Interestingly, one of the people involved with the new conference was also recently named in new court proceedings as being involved in the fraud.