A Silicon Valley financier who federal authorities say bilked investors and scammed banks to furnish a lifestyle that included buying a stake in a professional hockey team pleaded guilty Wednesday to securities fraud.
Former Nashville Predators co-owner William “Boots” Del Biaggio III ((pictured, thanks Garvey Scott/KC Star)) entered the plea exactly two months after federal prosecutors brought a single criminal charge against him for allegedly using brokerage accounts that weren’t his as collateral for nearly $100 million in loans.The charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, but Del Biaggio likely will be sentenced to much less time behind bars.
Wednesday’s hearing capped a spectacularly rapid fall from grace for Del Biaggio, 41, a member of a prominent San Jose banking family who founded Sand Hill Venture Capital and co-founded Heritage Bank of Commerce with his father. In May, he abruptly resigned from Sand Hill, which authorities say was not involved in Del Biaggio’s illegal activities. He filed for bankruptcy the next month after three lawsuits accused him of using forged documents and bogus collateral to land multimillion dollar loans.
At the end of the year, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a related lawsuit accusing the venture capitalist of misappropriating more than $19 million from private investors and using client account information to obtain loans.Del Biaggio has agreed to make restitution without admitting wrongdoing in the SEC case.
Federal authorities say Del Biaggio used the money to repay gambling debts, to decorate the four houses he and his wife owned and to buy a $10 million minority stake in the Predators.
[ed.note- we especially like the background in the photo... the irony is inescapable...]
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