A trial date has been set in the case against Montecito resident Ralph T. Iannelli, who is accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of allegedly conducting an $80 million Ponzi-like scheme.
According to the SEC, Iannelli, CEO of Essex Capital Corporation, “made a series of false and misleading statements and illusory personal guarantees to registered investment advisers to induce them to invest millions of dollars of their clients' money in Essex's failing equipment leasing business” between the years of 2014 to 2017. Iannelli allegedly utilized “Ponzi-like payments” of “paying interest and principal owed to investors using other investors’ funds” to attract investors and bank lenders, despite being unprofitable since at least 2014, the SEC alleged.
Financial records from January 2014 to March 2018 indicate that Essex owed its investors and lenders over $78 million, but Essex only possessed “$5.9 million in unencumbered assets in its brokerage account."