3 former Cosmo associates post bail

Three associates of convicted Ponzi scammer Nicholas Cosmo were released Friday, each on $1 million bond from U.S. District Court in Central Islip.

They were among the four former associates of Cosmo who were arrested Wednesday by federal agents on mail fraud charges, accused of participating in the $400 million scam that involved 5,000 investors who were promised returns of as much as 122 percent.

Many of the victims were blue-collar workers from Long Island.

The three associates who were released on bail were Jason Keryc, 34, of Wantagh; Anthony Ciccone, 39, of Locust Valley; and Diane Kaylor, 36, of Bethpage. They each were arraigned Wednesday on a mail fraud charge and were not required to enter a plea.

Keryc, Ciccone and Kaylor put up their own homes, that of relatives, or a combination of both, to secure their release by U.S. Magistrate E. Thomas Boyle.

No date was set for future court appearances.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison.

Keryc's lawyer, John Carman, declined to comment afterward, as did Ciccone's lawyer, Stuart Meissner, and Kaylor's lawyer, Michael Schwed.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Caffarone and Grace Cucchissi also declined to comment.

The fourth associate, Anthony Massaro, 40, of Boynton Beach, Fla., who was arrested at his home, has a hearing scheduled for Monday in federal court in Florida. At that time, federal prosecutors are expected to ask that he be moved to Long Island for arraignment on a mail fraud charge.

In October, Cosmo was sentenced to 25 years in prison for heading the scheme out of his two Hauppauge-based companies, Agape World and Agape Merchant Advance, from August 2000 to January 2009.