Florida Advisor Sentenced to 90 Months for Foreign Currency Ponzi Scheme and Tax Evasion
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
A federal court sentenced John A. Masanotti, Jr., to 90 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion in connection with a year's long investment scheme. ThinkAdvisor reports that the Department of Justice announced the sentence following Masanotti's October 1, 2025, guilty plea in Connecticut federal court.
Although Masanotti resided in Bonita Springs, Florida, he operated out of Darien, Connecticut during misconduct. He owned Middlesex Mortgage Group, also known as Middlesex Group. According to ThinkAdvisor, Masanotti did not register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and did not hold securities licenses.
Between 2016 and 2023, Masanotti solicited 14 clients to invest in what he described as a pooled investment vehicle focused on foreign currency trading and other opportunities. He raised approximately $4 million. Prosecutors determined that he never invested the funds. Instead, he used client money to cover personal expenses and to make payments to earlier investors in a Ponzi-like manner.
According to the Department of Justice and related Securities and Exchange Commission charges filed in 2023, Masanotti also directed investor funds toward mortgages on properties held in his wife's name in Connecticut and Florida, personal credit card balances, luxury vehicle payments, and a country club membership.
To conceal the scheme, Masanotti created and distributed fabricated monthly account statements that reflected false profits. In one instance, a Florida couple invested more than $950,000 after he claimed he relied on an algorithm to manage investments. ThinkAdvisor reports that he did not invest their funds and instead generated fictitious statements.
Prosecutors also established that Masanotti failed to report more than $3 million in income to the Internal Revenue Service across multiple tax years, resulting in nearly $1 million in tax loss. Investigators further found that he made false statements to the FBI during the investigation.
In addition to the 90 month prison term, the court ordered Masanotti to pay $4,361,632 in restitution. He agreed to cooperate with the IRS to satisfy outstanding taxes and penalties.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, ponzi scheme, tax evasion, securities fraud, forex fraud, investment fraud
