Fake billionaire fugitive Justin Costello had gold bars, $60K in cash, Mexican pesos and phony ID when FBI nabbed him – By Dan Mangan (CNBC) / Oct 11, 2022
- Prosecutors are asking a California federal judge to jail a recent fugitive, Justin Costello, without bail. He is accused of a brazen $35 million fraud.
- Costello falsely told investors he was a billionaire, a Harvard MBA and a special forces veteran who was wounded twice in Iraq.
- When an FBI SWAT team caught Costello, he was carrying a backpack containing gold bars worth $12,000, U.S. currency worth $60,000 and $10,000 in Mexican pesos.
- He is accused of schemes involving penny stocks, shell companies and cannabis businesses, and faces a related Securities and Exchange Commission civil lawsuit.
Prosecutors on Tuesday asked a California federal judge to jail without bail a recent fugitive accused of a brazen $35 million fraud that involved him falsely telling investors he was a billionaire, a Harvard MBA and a special forces veteran who was wounded twice in Iraq.
An FBI SWAT team caught the fugitive, Justin Costello, in a remote area near San Diego on Oct. 4. He was carrying a backpack loaded with six one-ounce gold bars worth $12,000, U.S. currency worth $60,000, $10,000 in Mexican pesos and banking cards and checkbooks, prosecutors said in a court filing.
Costello, 42, also had a receipt for a prepaid phone number in the backpack, along with a driver’s license with his photograph under the name “Christian Bolter,” the filing revealed.
