CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Perry Santillo, 41, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced to serve 210 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. Santillo was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $102,952,582.77.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who handled the case, stated that between January 2008 and June 2018, Perry Santillo conspired with Christopher Parris and others, to obtain money through an investment fraud commonly known as a Ponzi scheme. In 2007, Santillo and Parris, as equal partners, formed a business known as Lucian Development in Rochester, which raised millions of dollars from investors in Rochester, and elsewhere, by soliciting investments for City Capital Corporation, a business operated by Ephren Taylor. In July 2007, Santillo and C.P. were advised by Ephren Taylor that their investors’ money had been lost. In response, in August 2007, Santillo and Parris agreed to acquire the assets and debts of City Capital Corporation. The acquisition proved financially ruinous, with the amount of the acquired debt far exceeding the value of the acquired assets. Taylor was later prosecuted and convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme.
Subsequently, Santillo and Parris chose not to disclose the truth to investors that their money was gone….
