2 Iselin Men Participated In Fraudulent Online Business Scheme

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Two men who live in Iselin were part of a group accused of scamming customers out of $1.3 million in a fraudulent online sales scheme.

The Iselin residents are Eddie Signo, 30, and Champagne Thompson, 30. Both were sentenced to probation for participating.

Prosecutors say they fraudulently advertised aviation equipment for sale online. They tricked businesses across the U.S. and abroad into paying for aviation equipment that was never delivered.

The four men and one woman are from Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties, and they are:

• Antonio P. Signo (a.k.a. “Tony Demetro”), 37, of Somerset
• Sonny Signo, 56, of Elizabeth
• Eddie S. Signo, 30, of Iselin
• Champagne Thompson, 30, also of Iselin
• Cindy Drake, 37, of Somerset

They set up fraudulent websites advertising aircraft equipment and parts, said Attorney General Matt Platkin. They lured businesses into wiring money to them.

In his guilty plea in May 2023, Antonio Signo admitted he led the scheme, and enlisted assistance from family members and other co-conspirators. Signo acknowledged he created the websites to deceive companies into believing he was a legitimate supplier of aircraft equipment and replacement parts and directed companies to wire funds into one of more than 50 bank accounts.

Sonny and Eddie Signo and Champagne Thompson admitted to using bank accounts to receive stolen funds and to withdrawing the stolen funds from the accounts. Drake admitted to knowingly receiving thousands of dollars from the scheme.

Between February 2017 and March 2022, more than 200 businesses were victimized, including operators of corporate and charter jet services in the United States, France, Israel and the United Kingdom.

Antonio Signo was sentenced on July 21, 2023 to eight years in state prison, and ordered to pay $449,852 in restitution. Champagne Thompson and Cindy Drake were also sentenced on that date. Thompson was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution. Drake was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution. On January 12, 2024, the remaining two defendants were sentenced. Sonny Signo was sentenced to three years in state prison. Eddie Signo was sentenced to three years in state prison, plus $20,000 in restitution.

“As the victims became suspicious and tried to get their money back, the conspirators withdrew their funds and closed bank accounts, in an attempt to cut and run with their ill-gotten gains,” said Pablo Quiñones, Legal Chief of the Office of Securities Fraud and Financial Crimes Prosecutions.

The investigation was conducted by detectives and investigators at the Division of Criminal Justice with the assistance of federal agents from the Newark Field Office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations.