Livingston Man Admits He Bilked Investors

A Livingston man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing more than $800,000 from investors, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

Paul J. LoPapa, 64, admitted to the financial fraud in a company he owned and operated from his home, Skyline Equities Inc. He also admitted to Social Security fraud.

LoPapa used the money to pay off his property taxes in Livingston and buy luxury cars.

He appeared in federal court in Newark on Tuesday in a wheelchair and carrying oxygen. At the time of his arrest two years ago, LoPapa claimed he was a sickly stroke victim who was too ill to leave his house.

In statements in Newark on Tuesday, LoPapa admitted that he and an individual identified in court documents as "M.B." sought investors for a program called the "Bank Guarantee Program," which they billed as a sophisticated international financial instrument assisted by well-known financial institutions.

In order to lure investors, LoPapa and others promised high returns, conductin face-to-face meetings with investors at his Livingston home. Investors wired approximately $815,000 into a Skyline account.

LoPapa and M.B. did not invest the money, but spent it on personal items, including five high-end Mercedes-Benz automobiles, and paying the taxes in Livingston and a mortgage and taxes on another home in West Orange. The money also paid health insurance premiums, according to information obtained from the indictment and from statements in court.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin on Tuesday. Instead, LoPapa pleaded guilty to the charges contained in two separate indictments: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud in connection with the investment scheme; and one count of social security fraud for fraudulently receiving benefits. LoPapa entered his guilty pleas before U.S.  Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court.

LoPapa has been in federal custody for two years, since his arrest in Oct. 2008 when special agents of the FBI and Social Security Administration- Office of the Inspector General raided his million-dollar home on East Cedar Street.

LoPapa was denied a request to be released on bail Tuesday and remains in federal custody. He faces 20 years in prison and heavy fines. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 7, 2011.

This was not his first brush with the law. LoPapa previously served time in state and federal jail for theft and bank fraud.