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Teen commits $1M Web fraud
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January 7, 2002: 3:52 p.m. ET
SEC says online sports betting scheme scammed investors out of thousands of dollars.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - A 17-year-old California high-school student has agreed to return most of the $1 million he cheated from more than 1,000 would-be investors by promising to more than double their money in days, "risk-free," through sports betting schemes, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday.
The SEC identified the alleged fraud artist as Cole A. Bartiromo, 17, of Mission Viejo, Calif. It said he had stashed money gained from the scheme in Costa Rica, in a casino account he controls there.
Bartiromo was behind "Invest Better 2001," which operated a website and Internet bulletin board that the SEC moved to shut down on Dec. 13, the agency said. Enforcement officials named Bartiromo as a defendant in the enforcement action after discovering he was behind it.
Monday the SEC announced it is settling the matter with an agreement by Bartiromo to turn over "approximately" $900,000 he obtained from investors in the scheme.
In its amended complaint, the SEC said that starting from at least Nov. 1 last year, Bartiromo's website offered purportedly "guaranteed" and "risk-free" investment programs in which pooled investor funds were to be bet on sporting events.
The scheme promised to repay investors 125 to 2,500 percent of their principal within specified periods ranging from three days to several weeks, depending on the program selected.
As part of the settlement, the SEC said it obtained a court order requiring Bartiromo and Invest Better 2001 to repatriate all assets outside the United States and deposit them into the court's account, and an order requiring Bartiromo's assets be frozen.
From CNN Senior Correspondent Brooks Jackson 
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