September 4, 1988

Mail-order jeweler indicted on theft charge
--- ANNAPOLIS, Md.

Authorities are looking for a Crofton promoter and seller of mail-order jewelry on cable TV in Baltimore who has been indicted on a felony theft charge by an Anne Arundel County grand jury. Prosecutors allege Santo Rigatuso, also known as Bob Harris, did not provide refunds to six Anne Arundel residents who ordered his Santo Gold jewelry through the mail. Rigatuso promised a money-back guarantee but he''refused to return the money,''said Anne Arundel state's attorney Warren Duckett Jr., who termed the jewelry as ''cheap quality jewelry with very low gold content, far less than he advertised it to be.'' ''It was worthless.''

Rigatuso also made a science fiction comedy wrestling movie called ''Blood Circus,'' which premiered in and around Baltimore last November. Duckett said Santo Gold had been the object of dozens of complaints from across the country to the Maryland Attorney General's Office. ''We just got tired of waiting for them to take any action,'' he said of the indictment returned last week. ''We don't know where he is right now.''

Conviction of felony theft carries a prison term of up to 15 years and a $1,000 fine, plus restitution to victims, said Frank Weathersbee, an assistant state's attorney. Weathersbee said the six alleged instances of theft occurred between December 1986 and November 1987 and were grouped in a single felony count in the indictment.

''Blood Circus,'' a movie in 1985 made by Rigatuso under the name Bob Harris, premiered in Baltimore, Bel Air, Glen Burnie and Annapolis last November, was about wrestlers from the Soviet Union, the United States and the planet Zoran.
 
 
 

February 10, 1989

Crofton man indicted on mail fraud charges
--- BALTIMORE

A federal grand jury has indicted the operator of a Maryland  mail-solicitation business who is accused of defrauding thousands of consumers across the nation of nearly $5 milion. The grand jury Thursday indicted Santo Rigatuso, who authorities say operated 11 companies and used 15 aliases such as Mr. Joy and Santo Gold, on 12 counts of mail fraud. The indictment alleges that Rigatuso, of Crofton, misrepresented to millions of consumers nationwide that his company, Credit Card Authorization Center Inc., assisted customers in obtaining nationally recognized credit cards. But instead of receiving a major credit card for fees that ranged from $15 to $49.95, some consumers received two paper cards that could be used to buy merchandise, primarily jewelry, sold by Rigatuso. Authorities said some consumers never received anything for their money.

The indictment alleges that consumers mailed in $4,966,539 in fees, and that Rigatuso pocketed more than $413,000 of the fees between April1988 and September 1988. Last week, the Maryland attorney general filed civil charges against Rigatuso in the credit card business, and a business that purports to sell ''24-karat gold jewelry with a 100 percent money-back guarantee.'' The 13-page statement of charges contends Rigatuso placed advertisements in Baltimore newspapers and on local radio that an unnamed millionaire had died and left $7 million in merchandise to Baltimore-area residents with a $2,000 limit per customer. Consumers were told to send $50 for shipping and handling. But the state charges allege that many customers never received a reply or they were sent a catalog ''containing the same inflated and unreasonably priced items and the same jewelry'' that was sold in an earlier scheme. ''No merchandise was distributed for free nor ... did any millionaire fund such a program,'' the charges said.

The federal indictment contends that the U.S. Postal Service restricted the use of post office boxes by Rigatuso's company in April1988, but Rigatuso tried to evade the restrictions by opening new post office boxes. If convicted, Rigatuso, who filmed a science-fiction movie about professional wrestling at the Baltimore Arena called ''Blood Circus'' in1985, faces a possible 60 years in prison and $3 million in fines.
 
 
 

November 9, 1989

Rigatuso to set up restitution fund

The state of Maryland has ordered convicted swindler Santo Rigatuso to set up a $2 million fund to pay back people who lost money through jewelry and credit-card schemes he masterminded, lawyers said Thursday.

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. said Rigatuso, of Crofton, must set up the revolving trust account to pay back people in Maryland and other states who fell prey to the multimillion-dollar schemes. A New Jersey federal judge ruled in a civil action Wednesday that Rigatuso and his wife, Donna, must reimburse thousands of consumers who paid fees to obtain major credit cards. ''I don't think $2 million will cover everybody that is out there,'' said Roger Wolf, special assistant attorney general. But he added that he has no assurances that Rigatuso will produce the money to set up the fund.

''I suspect there's money there, but whether or not we'll get the money ... ,'' said Wolf. If Rigatuso doesn't comply, he said, ''We would have to go into court to enforce the order.''

Federal authorities estimate Rigatuso bilked consumers nationwide of at least $5 million by offering to obtain credit cards from Visa, Mastercard and American Express for a fee. A federal judge in Baltimore sentenced Rigatuso Wednesday to 10 months in prison and ordered he pay $106,000 in restitution for mail fraud and tax evasion convictions in the credit-card scheme.

In the ''Santo Gold'' jewelry scam, the attorney general's office said Rigatuso aired national advertisements for the gold items, claiming to dip them in acid to prove their value. But the jewelry was actually dipped in Alka Seltzer, officials said.  In a third scheme in Maryland, Rigatuso ran ads promoting a ''millionaire giveway,'' saying that $7 million had been provided to Baltimore residents in $1,000 increments of merchandise. Consumers only had to pay shipping and handling for the goods, which they never received, the attorney general said.

Rigatuso has 30 days to come up with the money or appeal the Maryland order from the consumer protection division, Wolf said.  Under the state's order, signed Wednesday, Rigatuso must pay additional money to the state if the $2 million does not cover all of the claims filed against him. He also must pay the administrative costs for tracking down consumers who paid him for credit cards or the fake jewelry, officials said.