Claudio Eleazar Osorio and Craig Stanley Toll, Miami, Florida businessmen, were arrested Friday after they was accused of using Osorio's company, InnoVida Holdings, to dupe investors out of millions of dollars, a press release from the Miami U.S. Attorney's Office indicates. Osorio, 54, and Toll, 64, were booked into police custody on two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, sixteen counts of substantive wire fraud, one count of major fraud against the U.S., one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and three counts of making false statements to the a U.S. government agency. It is unclear whether either defendant qualified for bail bond. It is also not yet known whether they have hired a lawyer.
Reports say Osorio founded InnoVida Holdings LLC in 2005 and served as the company's president for years. Reports identified Osorio as the company's major shareholder. Toll also worked for the company as a Chief Financial Officer. InnoVida Holdings purportedly manufactured and sold fiber composite panels that were used in the constructions of homes, shelters, and similar structures. Unlike standard panels, InnoVida's panels reportedly fit snugly together, making them an affordable way to construct buildings without the use of additional materials such as steel, wood, or cement.
Starting in March 2007 and ending in March 2011, detectives say Osorio, Toll, and other employees of InnoVida Holdings began marketing their company's shares to various investors. Detectives say that the defendants knowingly tricked investors while soliciting them for investment funds. Osorio, Toll, and their other cohorts allegedly told potential investors that InnoVida Holdings was worth millions of dollars more than what it truly was. They purportedly misconstrued facts about how much the company made, how much the investors would get back, and how the investors' funds would be used. They also allegedly lied about the products they sold and about third-party contractors. Using these deceptive means, the U.S. Attorney's Office says, the company reportedly accumulated $40 million from less than a dozen investors.
Detectives also allege that the defendants filed for a $10 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. The loan was supposed to be used to construct homes for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, reports say. The company reportedly granted Osorio and his conspirators that money between January 2010 and March 2011. However, detectives claim that while filing for that loan, Osorio and his conspirators again provided misleading information regarding their company's revenues and plans for appropriation of the funds.