The pitch, as Manhattan prosecutors describe it, was simple. Levi’s jeans would be made in Medellín, Colombia, shipped to the United States and sold at a profit. Investors would get their money back with interest, compounded over a three-month term.
On Oct. 20, District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced the indictment of Michael D’Antoni, 68. He is accused of stealing $343,200 from three New Yorkers through that plan: two retirees and a recently widowed woman raising her 10-year-old grandson. According to the district attorney, the manufacturing operation was phony, the promised interest was never paid and the money was never returned.
The indictment, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, charges Mr. D’Antoni with two counts of grand larceny in the second degree, one count of grand larceny in the third degree and one count of scheme to defraud in the first degree.
The charges are allegations. Mr. D’Antoni is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty. The district attorney’s account below is drawn from court documents and statements made on the record. None of the three alleged victims is named in the office’s release, and none is named here.
The estimator
According to prosecutors, the first victim met Mr. D’Antoni in the summer of 2021. The man’s home had been damaged by water, and his home insurance company hired Mr. D’Antoni as an estimator to oversee construction. The man had recently retired, and prosecutors say Mr. D’Antoni built a rapport with him.
In the spring of 2023, Mr. D’Antoni allegedly told the man that if he invested in the plan, he would receive 20 percent interest compounded over a three-month term, plus the return of his principal. In July 2023, prosecutors say, the man gave him $100,000.
The fire
The second victim, prosecutors say, met Mr. D’Antoni in December 2023, when he was hired to oversee construction on her family home after a fire.
The district attorney’s office describes her circumstances in detail. She had recently lost her mother, her partner and her daughter, and she was raising her grandson on her own. Mr. D’Antoni allegedly told her she would receive 5 percent interest compounded over a three-month term, plus her principal. Prosecutors say she gave him $225,000 in five installments between February and June 2024. That is the largest of the three alleged thefts.
Rome
The third meeting, by the prosecution’s account, took place not at a damaged house but abroad. Prosecutors say Mr. D’Antoni met the woman in Rome while she was on vacation, two months after her husband had died.
He allegedly promised her 4 percent interest compounded over a three-month term, plus her principal. She gave him $18,200 in two installments between December 2024 and March 2025, according to the office.
Each victim, by the prosecution’s account, was offered a different rate. The terms were otherwise the same: three months, compounded, with the principal returned.
Where the money went
None of the three received any interest or got their principal back, prosecutors say. Instead, they allege, Mr. D’Antoni withdrew cash and spent the money on travel, hotels, restaurants, life insurance and credit card payments, luxury goods “and more.”
The district attorney
“Michael D’Antoni allegedly scammed three older New Yorkers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by lying about an investment opportunity,” Mr. Bragg said in a statement. “We allege he took advantage of them after building rapports and gaining their trust. We urge New Yorkers to exercise caution when making investments, and to only do so through trusted institutions and licensed brokers.”
The case is being handled by Assistant District Attorney Vimi Bhatia, deputy chief of the Elder Abuse Unit. She is supervised by Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey, deputy chief of the Special Victims Division, and Executive Assistant District Attorney Justin McNabney, the division’s chief. Investigators from the office’s Investigation Bureau and its Forensic Accounting and Financial Investigations Bureau assisted, along with an analyst from the Financial Frauds Bureau.
The case was reported on Oct. 21 by the neighborhood site East Side Feed. No public statement from Mr. D’Antoni or a lawyer for him appears in the coverage.
Where to call
The district attorney’s office asks anyone who has been the victim of an investment scam to call 212-335-8900. Older New Yorkers who have been scammed can also call 212-335-9007.
Featured image: A Levi's 501 Two Horses patch. Photo by Olgierd Rudak via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
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