New York men charged in "boiler room" scheme

By Scott Files

Published on April 20, 2006

The charges allege that the men, who were charged in New Haven, Conn., committed 16 counts of securities fraud, five counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities and mail fraud. The indictments were handed down on March 29 and announced yesterday.

The defendants include Digby Ferrera, 33, also known as Casper Weiss, of Brooklyn; John Blot, 26, also known as Victor Morgan, of Brooklyn; Shawn Haber, 33, also known as Leo Schwartz, of Brooklyn; Leslie James, 35, also known as Daryl McKinney, of Jamaica; and Scott Ciappetta, 38, also known as Steven Stiles and Steven Markowitz, of Ronkonkoma.

The indictment alleges that the men told investors that they were employees of Blue Square Management, which prosecutors say was a fraudulent company with no legitimate operations. The defendents allegedly told investors in unsolicitated "cold calls" that they could buy shares in a fictitious company, Cash Corp. Lending Corporation.

Potential investors were told that CMLC managed thousands of ATM's nationwide and that an initial public offering was in the works for the company in the near future. They also claimed that any investments would see huge dividends when the company went public or was acquired.

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