In New Jersey, a father and son team pleaded guilty to defrauding investors who thought they were purchasing shares of an ASC, based on a press release from the New Jersey attorney general's office.
Five things to know:
1. The two men, George Bussanich Sr. and George Bussanich Jr., paid $5.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Bureau of Securities in 2014 for their involvement in a scheme to defraud ASC investors. The settlement includes $4 million in investor restitution. They then defrauded several of the same investors again.
2. The state is also seeking prison time for both men, as well as probation for Wilma Bussanich, George Bussanich Jr.'s mother, who pleaded guilty to third-degree money laundering.
3. From May 2009 to July 2013, both George Baussanich Sr. and George Baussanich Jr., pleaded guilty to misleading 26 investors about purchasing unregistered investment notes in Metropolitan Ambulatory Surgical Center, which was actually just a holding company controlled by the two men. The men made dividend payments from initial principle funds and then diverted money to personal purchases, including homes and several luxury cars.
4. In 2014, the two men were barred from the New Jersey securities industry and controlling or acting as officers or directors of entities selling securities. However, the men began asking for investments in a second fake company a month after their barring. Fifteen of the 26 investors they initially defrauded also invested in the second fake company, with the total investments topping $3 million.
5. Under their plea agreements, George Bussanich Sr., faces 10 years in prison while George Bussanich Jr. faces eight years in prison.
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