Fairfield Man Sentenced For $5M Investment Fraud Scheme: Feds

FAIRFIELD, CT — A Fairfield man has been sentenced to 19 months in federal prison for his role in a securities scheme that defrauded investors out of more than $5 million, U.S. States Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said in a press release. James Trolice, 64, previously pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with securities fraud and transacting in criminal proceeds. Trolice was sentenced Tuesday in Newark federal court.

In addition to the prison term, Trolice was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $5,000,512.65 representing the proceeds of his offense. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Trolice was the president and owner of Trolice Consulting Services LLC and the president and chief marketing officer of eAgency, a California-based company that developed mobile security products.

Trolice and Lee Vaccaro, 46, of Las Vegas, sold investors interests in Trolice Consulting Services and companies Vaccaro controlled and falsely represented to investors that those companies held warrants in eAgency, according to Carpenito. Warrants are derivative securities that give the holder the right to purchase common stock at a specific price within a certain time frame.

“Trolice admitted that he made oral and written misrepresentations concerning the existence, number, validity, and term of eAgency warrants purportedly owned by the investment companies; the amount of money he had personally invested in and raised for eAgency; and his current position at eAgency,” Carpenito wrote in the press release. “Trolice also admitted that beginning in January 2011, the dollar amount of interests Trolice and Vaccaro sold in the investment companies began to surpass the dollar amount of valid warrants held by the investment companies. Neither Trolice nor Vaccaro disclosed to investors the risk that their investments would be diluted by the sale of additional interests in the companies. Altogether, Trolice and Vaccaro defrauded investors out of more than $5 million.”

Vaccaro previously pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and was sentenced Feb. 17, 2017 to 78 months in prison.

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