Is he the Bernie Madoff of cycling?
Samuel J. Mancini is accused of bilking 40 investors out of 11 million dollars. While that’s “chump change “ compared to what Bernie defrauded from his clients, I’m sure Mancini’s victims are no less impacted—and feel no less betrayed.
He’d raised the money, he told his investors, for Outdoor Capital Partners (of which he was the managing director) to acquire bicycle-maker DeRosa, bicycle helmet-maker Limar and De Marching, known for bicycle clothing and accessories. He would re-launch those brands, he told his customers, as part of a direct-to-consumer business that would be a direct competitor to Canyon, at least in the US.
The deal for De Marchi fell through. So, he set his sights on Gruppo SRL, the parent company of Cinelli and Columbus.
At least, that’s what he told his investors. In the meantime, according to a civil complaint filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and a criminal case in the US Attorney’s office for New Jersey, Mancini and OCP embezzled $400,000 of investors’ money and made $800,000 of “Ponzi-like” payments to investors.
As a result, Mancini’s and OCP’s accounts were frozen and Mancini was arrested. He was released on bail and is awaiting trial. The charges of securities fraud, money laundering and wire fraud could bar him being an officer of any public company or selling securities, require him to pay back funds with penalties and interest, and land him in prison for up to 30 years.
Perhaps one reason why investors trusted him was that he told them he was investing millions of his own dollars. That turned out to be as false as his claim of being an alumnus of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
This guy sounds like a real charmer. I hear Bernie was one.
