Thomas Aaron Signorelli, a resident of West Palm Beach, Florida, has entered a guilty plea in federal court to multiple charges including bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, theft of government property, destruction of records, and conspiracy to launder money. These charges were brought against him on September 19, 2024.
Signorelli admitted that from January 2021 until December 2023, he misled individuals and entities by claiming he could secure capital through his company WS Capital. However, instead of raising funds or securing investments as promised, he used the victims' money for personal expenses and to repay other victims.
One scheme involved co-conspirator David Scott Cacchione. They convinced investors their funds would be used to purchase non-existent accounts receivables. The money was instead shared between Signorelli and Cacchione for personal use. In total, Signorelli defrauded over $2.5 million.
Additionally, Signorelli conspired with a Florida attorney to launder proceeds through the attorney's client trust account. In another instance in December 2021, he offered to launder drug trafficking proceeds but stole $150,000 provided by an undercover agent instead.
Signorelli also submitted false applications for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs to the Small Business Administration (SBA), obtaining over $50,000 based on fabricated information about a Napa real estate venture.
In August 2022, aware of an FBI search warrant for his phone, Signorelli deleted communications from his device to obstruct investigations.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey alongside officials from the FBI and IRS-CI Oakland Field Office among others. Signorelli remains free on a $200,000 bond with sentencing scheduled for March 24, 2025.
Each charge carries significant penalties: bank fraud up to 30 years in prison; wire fraud up to 20 years; conspiracy charges up to 20 years; theft of government property up to 10 years; destruction of records up to 20 years; and conspiracy to launder money up to 20 years.
His co-conspirator Cacchione pleaded guilty earlier this year and received a sentence of 40 months imprisonment from Judge Donato on November 4th.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Hire is leading the prosecution following investigations by several federal agencies including the FBI and SBA OIG.