Officials: Rockville Centre fund manager pleads guilty to wire fraud

A Rockville Centre man was sentenced to 28 months in prison Friday after pleading guilty to wire fraud in a scheme he hatched to steal $440,000 from five clients who used his investment portfolio services, federal prosecutors said.

Patrick Morgan Schiro, who was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge LeShann DeArcy Hall in her Brooklyn courtroom, must also pay an amount in restitution that has not yet been determined, according to a news release issued by Richard P. Donoghue, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Schiro, the founder of Black Rock Morgan LLC, had assured investors that their money was growing in the accounts he managed but he spent the funds on personal expenses including approximately $190,000 to pay one of his children’s college tuition, Donoghue said.

Schiro’s attorney could not be reached for comment.

“From approximately July 2014 to October 2015, Schiro used false and misleading statements to induce five individuals to invest approximately $440,000 with BRM, and he concealed his prior federal conviction for securities fraud from at least four of them,” according to the news release.

“Once he had the funds, Schiro also deceived his investors by telling them that their investments were performing well,” the news release said. “For example, Schiro told one investor that his investment of approximately $242,000 was valued at $711,000.”