California real estate founder charged in alleged $62.5 million promissory-note fraud

A California real estate founder and self-styled "wealth investor" was charged Tuesday with wire fraud after federal prosecutors say he ran a Ponzi-style scheme that defrauded more than 500 investors of roughly $62.5 million.

Marco Giovanni Santarelli, 56, the founder and CEO of Laguna Niguel–based Norada Capital Management and Norada Real Estate, allegedly solicited investors nationwide from June 2020 through June 2024 to buy unsecured promissory notes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. The government says the notes, sold in amounts ranging from $25,000 to $500,000, promised high-yield monthly interest payments of about 12 percent to 15 percent over three to seven years.

Prosecutors allege Santarelli told investors their monthly interest payments would come from income generated by NCM’s stated investments in e-commerce, real estate, Broadway productions and cryptocurrency. He promoted the investments through webinars and on his own podcast, portraying the notes as a "hands-off passive investment" suited for retirement funds and providing balance sheets that showed assets between $143.3 million and $224 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The complaint says the balance sheets were false: more than $90 million in debt was concealed and asset values were inflated. Rather than producing steady returns, the fund’s investments were unprofitable, carried heavy debt and offered little return, officials said. In what the government described as "Ponzi-scheme fashion," Santarelli paid some investors with funds provided by later investors rather than with legitimate investment income.

The alleged victims included retirees, public servants and others who said they relied on the promised monthly payments for retirement planning. An Arizona firefighter who told local media he invested $400,000 said he received about $180,000 in payments before they stopped. A Dallas investor said she put $200,000 into the notes in October 2023 and lost regular payments by June 2024, at which point she was given equity in the company instead. A Florida retiree and former attorney said he invested $700,000 and later obtained a default judgment of $750,000 in a separate civil suit filed in September 2024.

Federal investigators have seized more than $5 million in connection with the case and continue to search for additional assets, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI. If convicted, Santarelli faces up to 20 years in prison.

Santarelli repeatedly promoted his entrepreneurial rise and lavish lifestyle in public appearances. In a January 2021 podcast titled The Inventor of Turnkey Real Estate: Marco Santarelli, he said, "I just knew at a very young age that I wanted to be wealthy," and described his business ambitions after leaving a criminology program he said had been a poor fit.

Investors and their lawyers have pursued civil claims against Santarelli and his companies. In September 2024, one investor secured a default judgment after filing suit. Victims have said many were lured by positive reviews, referrals and Santarelli’s public persona.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office described the notes as unsecured and said investors were led to believe their principal and interest were protected by diversified assets under management. The office said those representations were false or materially misleading.

Authorities declined to comment on the amount recoverable to investors and said asset recovery efforts were ongoing. The Daily Mail and other outlets reported the charges and related victim accounts. The Daily Mail reached out to Santarelli for comment, according to the report.

Prosecutors filed the wire fraud charge in federal court in Los Angeles. The complaint provides the timeline and allegations; any defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.