Citicorp Helped Felon Rip People Off for 20M FRNs Ponzi

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – A federal class action claims Citicorp aided and abetted a $20 million Ponzi scheme run by a “felon and escaped prisoner, Joseph Viola.” The class claims that Citicorp “knew of Viola’s prior criminal history, and of his fraud,” but provided him “with a variety of banking services in violation of federal banking rules and regulations and directly assisted Viola in recruiting victims for his scheme.”
The class claims that “Viola is a convicted felon who, before his latest white collar crime spree in San Francisco, served a 5-year sentence for fraud in the 1980s. Viola was indicted in 1990 by the Maricopa County Grand Jury, charged with perpetrating an investment fraud scheme. While awaiting trial, out on bail, Viola fled the State of Arizona to San Francisco, California. He was arrested on or about March 10, 2010, in San Francisco and extradited to Maricopa County, Arizona, where he remains incarcerated.”

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