CLEVELAND, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A former Ohio investment adviser charged with financial crimes has cheated more U.S. residents while living in Peru, alleged victims say.
U.S. investors say Eric Bartoli, who has been on the run for 10 years after being indicted on charges of scamming Northeast Ohio retirees, has victimized a new set of people from South America even though the U.S. government is aware of his activities, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Sunday.
Angry investors told the newspaper that Bartoli wouldn't have been able to entice them into buying allegedly non-existent stocks in Peruvian gold and silver if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had shared information with them.
"It's shameful the way these agencies shuffle papers and pass the buck," Duke Moscrip, 65, of Seattle, told the newspaper after allegedly losing $424,000 with Bartoli in 2007.
"Our case has been over since 2006," Teresa Verges, an SEC official who investigated Bartoli, told the Plain Dealer. "The Justice Department prosecuted who they had. It's just that Mr. Bartoli has absconded. He's evaded jail. He's evaded the United States. It's frustrating ... but it's not unusual."
Bartoli did not respond to numerous e-mails from the newspaper.
