PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Catherine Damavandi, Deputy Attorney General

Phone: (302) 577-8927

Date: December 4, 2003

SECURITIES FRAUD DEFENDANT ENTERS PLEA
Agrees to reimburse victims over a quarter million dollars

(Wilmington, DE): Attorney General M. Jane Brady announces that Stephen J. Pacinelli of West Chester, PA, already serving a prison term of 4 to 10 years for similar conduct in Pennsylvania, has entered a guilty plea to charges brought by the Attorney General’s Securities Unit for defrauding two Delaware investors. Pacinelli entered a guilty plea yesterday to two counts of theft, and one count each of Securities Fraud and Sale of Securities by an Unregistered Agent. Judge Jan Jurden immediately sentenced the defendant to a suspended prison term and imposed 5 years of probation during which Pacinelli will be required to pay $263,816.60 in restitution to two Delaware investors. The defendant is also permanently barred from the offer or sale of securities or other investment products in the State of Delaware. 

Attorney General Brady commented, “These prosecutions are important to assist the specific victims who were defrauded but they also serve the purpose of alerting the public to these types of scams. The Securities Unit in my office assists the public so that they can carefully invest with reputable agents. For more information, visit the Securities Unit on the Attorney General’s website at http://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/fraud/securitiescomm/securitiescommission.htm or call 577-8424.”

Pacinelli bilked at least a dozen investors, many of whom are senior citizens, in both Pennsylvania and Delaware in a Ponzi or pyramid scheme and converted these funds for his personal use. He misappropriated approximately $1.5 million from clients of his businesses, S.J. Pacinelli & Associates, Inc. and Creative Financial Resources, Inc. to support a lavish lifestyle including an expensive home in a posh Philadelphia suburb, international travel and the purchase of prize horses. 

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