Cobalt founder sentenced in $23 million real estate fraud scheme

Preet Bharara

The founder of Cobalt — a network of companies which claimed to have interests in residential real estate developments throughout the country — was sentenced to 85 years in prison for a fraud scheme that pulled in over $23 million from over 250 investors in private placement real estate offerings, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced today. Mark Shapiro was found guilty, along with co-defendants Irving Stitsky and William Foster. “Shapiro is a career con-man who stole millions of dollars from hundreds of investors by selling worthless interests in a bogus investment offering,” said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. TRD

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