N.J. Olive Oil Magnate Charged With Wire Fraud: Hudson County

Jersey City, NJ – Authorities have charged a Hudson County business owner with allegedly defrauding investors of millions of dollars via an olive-oil related scheme, prosecutors say.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (NJ), FBI agents arrested Antonio Fasolino, 59, of Jersey City, on Tuesday and charged him with wire fraud.

Prosecutors say that Fasolino owned several companies that were involved in the manufacture, sale and distribution of pasta, tomato sauce, olive oil and other food products.

In 2012, Fasolino allegedly engaged in an investment fraud scheme in which he obtained more than $3.4 million from two victims by falsely representing that Fasolino's companies had been awarded lucrative contracts to sell olive oil, prosecutors said.

However, prosecutors allege that there were never any such contracts and that Fasolino spent the money on himself, including car and mortgage payments, apartment rentals, a wedding, college tuition and credit card payments.

The count of wire fraud with which Fasolino is charged carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the scheme, according to prosecutors.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Fasolino has served as CEO and chairman of Fasolino Foods, USA since 1977.

“Fasolino's produces five billion pounds per year of pasta with equal production of tomatoes and olive oil and has expanded throughout Europe, North America and Asia,” the company’s website states.

According to Leagle.com, Fasolino and Fasolino Foods Inc. were also involved in a 1991 lawsuit with the Italy-based Banca Nazionale del Lavoro.

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