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Two men charged in Web scheme

Currency investors gave the Pinellas men about $1.5-million after being promised returns of up to 120 percent.

By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published December 1, 2005

Two Pinellas County men have been charged with swindling more than $1-million from people who thought they were buying into an investment club, authorities said Wednesday.

William Anthony Folino, 50, of Tarpon Springs and Joseph Belanger, 54, of Largo were arrested Tuesday and charged with violating Florida's Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations Act.

Both were being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Wednesday night with bail set a t $1-million each.

The arrests came after a 21/2-year investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's office in Clearwater . Authorities found that Folino and Belanger were soliciting investors to their Investment Freedom Club via a flashy Web site: www.investmentfreedomclub.com

The pair promised profits of 60 to 120 percent annually by investing in foreign currency trading, also known as Forex, according to state investigators.

From August 2000 to September 2001, 150 investors sent from $300 to $300,000 apiece to a mailbox in Clearwater, according to a civil suit filed by the U.S. Commodity Future Trading Commission.

Folino and Belanger raised $1.5-million, authorities said.

More than half of the funds were used by Folino, the club manager, and his wife, Tina Folino, for personal goods and services or were transferred to personal accounts, according to the commission's suit.

Meanwhile, the group sent phony statements to investors in the United States and abroad saying that their investments were growing, the suit indicated.

They even sent checks to some, typically returning the money the investors had sent in the first place.

Belanger was allegedly responsible for the day-to-day operations of the site, including e-mailing investors and soliciting potential clients in chat rooms.

The criminal charges follow a civil suit in which the men were ordered to pay millions in restitution.

In January 2003, civil charges of fraud were brought against the pair by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The next month, the U.S. District Court in Tampa prohibited the men from soliciting customers or accepting funds for trading commodities.

In March 2005, Folino and Belanger were ordered to pay the bulk of victims' restitution totaling $2.3-million. Tina Folino was ordered to pay up to $378,894.60 of the total.

In addition, Belanger and Folino were to pay $120,000 and $2.1-million, respectively, in civil fines to the commission.

--Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Nicole Johnson can be reached at njohnson@sptimes.com or 727 445-4162.

[Last modified December 1, 2005, 01:07:16]