Con Man Faces Charges in Bogus-Stock Swindle

A convicted con man who posed as a wealthy stockbroker has been charged with felony grand theft for allegedly swindling five Antelope Valley residents out of $37,500 by selling them bogus IBM stock certificates, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

Jonathan Giovanni Guccione, 29, of Redondo Beach is also believed to have used similar scams to defraud at least 14 other people elsewhere in Los Angeles and Orange counties and at least two other states, although charges have not been filed in those cases, the district attorney’s office added.

Guccione remained in county custody Friday in lieu of $150,000 bail after his scheduled arraignment in Antelope Valley Municipal Court was continued to Jan. 11. He was charged Dec. 4 with eight counts of grand theft stemming from the five Antelope Valley cases.

Sheriff’s Detective Dennis Papp said Guccione posed as a broker for Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc., driving about in limousines and a new Datsun 300SX, handing out tickets to sports events, and promising his victims returns on their investments of sixfold or better within several months.

“I guess he was quite a talker. Apparently, he has a pretty good delivery,” Papp said. “He promised them short-term, high-yield returns on their investments. It sounded like too good of a deal to pass up.”

Because the counterfeit stock certificates looked realistic, complete with the company’s name, the purchasers’ names and other details, authorities had to contact IBM to confirm that they were in fact worthless, Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia Ulfig said.

In the Antelope Valley between May and July, one man lost $15,000, one woman lost $7,500, and two men and a woman lost $5,000 apiece, according to Ulfig. Guccione, if convicted, could be sentenced to up to nine years in state prison and be ordered to repay his victims, Papp added.

Ulfig said the investigation produced evidence that Guccione had used similar stock ploys on at least nine other victims in Los Angeles, Cerritos, Paramount, three Orange County cities, Yucca Valley in San Bernardino County, Las Vegas, Nev., and Centerville, Va.

The loss to victims in those cases was $6,750, Ulfig and Papp said. At least five other Southern California victims refused to participate in the investigation, Papp added.

Meanwhile, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has begun its own investigation, a spokesman said.

Guccione was arrested at his home in mid-September after one of his alleged victims became suspicious and filed a complaint. Guccione was on parole at the time for a prior fraud conviction, Ulfig said.