NEWARK, N.J. – A Monmouth County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 63 months in prison for committing securities fraud to obtain over $2.8 million from victim investors, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
Mark Marchi, 55, of Red Bank, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi to an information charging him with one count of securities fraud. Judge Cecchi imposed the sentence on Jan. 4, 2023, in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Marchi, who was previously barred from the securities industry, purported to provide investment adviser services to clients. Beginning in December 2015, he managed and controlled Precipio Capital LLC, after previously managing and controlling a different investment company called Global Alliance Capital, LLC. Through Global Alliance, Marchi solicited investments from multiple investors, and when he ceased operating Global Alliance, Marchi represented to those investors that he rolled over their accounts into Precipio. Marchi also solicited investors to invest directly into Precipio.
Instead of using the funds on legitimate investments, Marchi diverted approximately $2.8 million of those funds from victim investors for other purposes, including paying back previous Global Alliance investors and his own use. Marchi made repeated misrepresentations to the victim investors, which included false claims about the status and performance of investments and false assurances to victims that their investments were profitable. Marchi also provided victims with falsified records, including trading records, performance reports, and K-1s.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Cecchi sentenced Marchi to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $2.87 million.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited the special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas Mahoney; and postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Postal Inspector in Charge Damon Wood, Philadelphia Division, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the N.J. Bureau of Securities in the State Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs, under the direction of Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Acting Bureau Chief Amy Kopleton, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, under the direction of Director Gurbir S. Grewal, for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Silane of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.