Forte pleads guilty in Ponzi scheme - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia said that between 1996 and Forte collected investment money from nearly 80 individualws using a fraudulent scheme in which the he claimed that he was tradinb in stock index futures through a partnership named JosepjForte LP. Prosecutors said 53, of Broomall, Pa., used his scheme to collecft roughly $80 million from investors, paying some investors on their investments by using money contributed byotheer investors. Prosecutors said Forte reporteds fabricated investment returns between 18 percent and 38 whenin fact, he consistently lost money on his trades.
Prosecutorss said Forte paid himself millions of dollars in salariee and fees and used his profits to make numerouszfinancial transactions, including taking out a $500,000 Commercr Bank [now TD Bank] loan by misrepresentingg the value of Joseph Fortre LP. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 2. He facese possible prison time, fines and payinfg full restitution to the victims ofhis crimes, and forfeiturse of all property that constitutes or is derivefd from his criminal proceeds.
The case was investigated by the Unitefd States PostalInspection Service, the Federall Bureau of Investigations, the Delaware County Districty Attorney’s Office, the Securitieds and Exchange Commission, and the Commoditiees Futures Trading Commission. It is being prosecutecd by Assistant United States Attorney Joe Forte was charged in a civil case in earlyg January by the Securities andExchange Commission, which obtained an emergenc y court order freezing his assets.