By David Voreacos and David Scheer
April 21 (Bloomberg) -- Nevin Shapiro, chief executive officer of Capitol Investments USA Inc., defrauded investors of at least $80 million to fund his lavish lifestyle after raising $880 million in a Ponzi scheme, U.S. prosecutors charged.
Shapiro, 41, raised money from at least 60 investors from January 2005 to November 2009 to finance Capitol, a Miami Beach- based wholesale grocery distribution business, authorities said in a complaint unsealed today in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. Capitol and Shapiro "had virtually no legitimate business during this time," the government said.
Shapiro used new investor money to pay existing investors in the Ponzi scheme, while taking $35 million for himself, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation complaint. He paid millions of dollars in debts from illegal sports bets, bought $400,000 in floor seats to Miami Heat professional basketball games and bought diamond-studded handcuffs that he gave to a "prominent professional athlete," the FBI said.
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