A Greece man is facing federal charges for allegedly submitting thousands of false claims for payouts from class action lawsuit settlements.
Philip DiGennaro, 38, is accused of taking in $1.3 million over four years from 107 different settlements.
Court records state that DiGennaro admitted to the fraud when the FBI searched his home, telling agents he came up with the idea after being unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and losing money in cryptocurrency. Those loses, he has claimed in separate lawsuits, were the result of theft.
DiGennaro is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. The charges carry a maximum of 20 years in prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced his arrest Tuesday, though court records show he was arrested last month and granted a conditional release.
Class action lawsuits are filed by one or more people on behalf of a larger group alleged to have suffered similar harm from the same defendant or defendants. Such cases often are resolved with the defendant making a lump-sum settlement payment to a third-party claim administrator. People affected can then apply for payment under penalty of perjury, often requiring they submit proof. Large class action lawsuits can involve thousands of claimants.
DiGennaro is accused of submitting false applications or claims under fictitious names in a range of settlements from Vimeo to Jeep and EpiPen to Porsche.
In the case of the Jeep settlement, claimants had to submit a VIN number and other details.
DiGennaro allegedly identified settlements on websites that highlight potential class action payouts that visitors can claim. He then used a name generator on his computer, obtained fake IDs in those names from the dark web, and sent the information to a third party in Colombia who he paid $600 a month to file the false claims using a proxy, according to court records.
Investigators claim he told agents he would attach the fake name to any valid address, then set up mail forwarding to his personal address. Law enforcement continues to investigate whether any of the names belong to real people or are all fictitious, records show.
DiGennaro allegedly used over 480 bank accounts at eight different financial institutions but consolidated much of the settlement payouts in CD or other high-yield savings accounts that were seized by federal authorities.
The search of his home "found voluminous records of class action lawsuit filings, photoshopped documents with fake names, and a folder labeled 'ready for claims' with subfolders for various class action lawsuits,'" court records show. Many of the false claims ended in denials, he allegedly told agents.
DiGennero sued Binance crypto exchange last October, claiming the platform ordered U.S. users to withdraw all assets in 2021 or risk permanent loss. He was holding 50 Ethereum tokens, the lawsuit states, which he said could not be transferred out of the Binance system. His lawsuit alleges that Binance then “wrongfully exercised control” over the tokens that today are worth more than $200,000. The lawsuit, filed Oct. 12, also named Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who President Donald Trump pardoned 10 days later. Zhao had pleaded guilty to money laundering after being accused of turning a blind eye to criminal activity on the platform.
A separate lawsuit that DiGennero filed in June claimed he discovered in November 2021 that his crypto assets were being transferred without his authorization to unknown accounts. He stated that he filed complaints with the FBI and Greece Police Department. That lawsuit listed additional losses and placed his total damages at $750,000.
