A Long Island City woman who pleaded guilty in connection with a Ponzi scheme that reportedly targeted the Latino community in Queens was sentenced on Tuesday, Aug. 20 to three to nine years in prison, the Queens District Attorney’s Office announced.
Reportedly, 66-year-old Ibis Febles bilked 30 people out of their life savings by pretending to invest the money in a corporation that bought and sold real estate and offered above-market returns on it.
Febles, of 28th Street in Long Island City, pleaded guilty in May to one count of first-degree criminal possession of stolen property, one count of first-degree grand larceny, six counts of second-degree grand larceny, twenty-two counts of thirddegree grand larceny, and two counts of fourth degree grand larceny before
Queens Supreme Court Justice Fernando M. Camacho, who presided over sentencing on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
Febles also signed 30 confessions of judgment totaling more than $1.3 million.
A second defendant charged in the case, Giancarlo Giuseppe, 69, is still at large.
According to the indictment, between Sept. 30, 2003 and Oct. 1, 2008,Febles and Giuseppe purported to operate a corporation known as Buyersnet Real Estate Corporation with Giuseppe as the principal owner and Febles listed as vice president and offices located at 41-08 Judge St. in Elmhurst; 79-19 37th Ave. in Jackson Heights; 37-06 82nd St. in Jackson Heights; and 42-26 28th St. in Long Island City.
The complainants in the case gave the duo various amounts of money which was to be used by Buyersnet to either purchase, renovate or sell real estate. They were allegedly informed by Giuseppe and/or Febles that depending on the date of the investment, they would be guaranteed to earn a 10-, 12- or 14- percent return interest on their monies which could either be received by the complainant or reinvested.
Each time the complainants invested monies they received certifi- cates that alleged to represent the amount of their investments and which were referred to as “GIOS” or Guaranteed Interest Options. The certificates allegedly reflected a guaranteed interest rate which was much higher than the rates being paid by reputable financial institutions.
According to the indictment, the investors contributed various amounts-in some instances as much as $500 a month-and suffered individual losses ranging from approximately $5,000 to as much as $50,000. The total losses suffered by the 30 complainants are alleged to be ap- proximately $1.365 million.
Finally, it is alleged that none of the money invested by the complainants was invested in real estate. Instead, the defendants allegedly used new investor money to pay interest dividends to earlier investors but during the later part of 2008 the scheme collapsed and they stopped making interest payments, refused to return principal requested by various complainants and by the end of that year the business was closed.
“Many of the victims of this scheme lost their entire life savings. I would therefore let this case serve as a warning to all investors to use extreme caution when promised a guaranteed and above market return of 10, 12 or 14 percent. Such high rates of return should immediately cause investors to raise an alarm.”
Assistant District Attorney Rosemary Buccheri, of the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Gregory C. Pavlides, Bureau Chief, and Christina Hanophy, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
