Feds: Second conviction for fraudster from Rockville Centre

A Rockville Centre man sentenced to prison in 2006 for securities fraud was convicted Friday of defrauding investors in another financial scheme, prosecutors said.

Patrick Morgan Schiro, 45, pleaded guilty to wire fraud at federal court in Brooklyn, according to the office of Bridget M. Rohde, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Schiro faces up to 20 years in prison at his scheduled Aug. 2 sentencing, prosecutors said.

Court documents show Schiro, described as a “purported portfolio manager,” created a sham investment advising business and bilked five people out of $440,000 from July 2014 to June 2016 when he got them to invest with his firm, Black Rock Morgan LLC.

He made several false statements to investors, claiming that he also ran a private equity fund with $200 million in assets, the records show.

“The FBI investigation has revealed all these representations were false,” an affidavit in the court record said.

Schiro used some of the money at gas stations, restaurants and online stores, and used $190,000 from his corporate account to pay the college tuition for one of his children, prosecutors said.

Records show Schiro was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2006 after being convicted of securities fraud in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

As part of his guilty plea, entered Friday before U.S. District Judge LeShann DeArcy Hall, Schiro agreed to make restitution to the fraud victims in an amount to be determined by the judge, prosecutors said.