CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral couple is facing fraud charges, accused of running a crime spree that stretched from the coasts of Florida to the mountains of Colorado.
Philip and Nicole Scolaro are accused of defrauding two Colorado women out of more than $4 million.
According to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, which is handling the prosecution, the Scolaro’s convinced two women they owned a gold mine in Africa.
Around the same time, nearly two thousand miles away, a Fort Myers man says the same thing happened to him.
Jonas Sims, an RV Broker from Fort Myers, crossed paths with the Scolaro’s in May of 2022.
The couple expressed interest in buying an RV.
“They came off as very kind individuals. Very heartfelt. I immediately felt comfortable with them,” said Sims, founder of Mada Motorhome Brokerage, Inc.
As a broker with more than 15 years of experience, Sims says he took the same steps he does in every sale.
Including an income verification.
“I did an extra step just for my due diligence. And there was money in the account,” said Sims.
Sims told Fox 4 Investigates in an exclusive interview, that his income verification showed a bank account with more than $300,000,000 in it.
The couple paid $101,000 for the RV in cash.
“I had no reservations,” Sims said about the business transaction. “The money showed up on time. There was never anything out of the ordinary. Everything was on the up-and-up.”
COLORADO ALLEGATIONS
What Sims didn’t know is that one month later, in June of 2022, the Scolaro’s allegedly scammed a woman out of her house in Colorado.
According to a 17-page grand jury indictment, obtained by Fox 4, the pair stole more than $4 million from two women in Colorado over a three-year period.
The pair allegedly asked for investors to help extract, secure and transport gold from their mine.
However, investors never received their money, according to the Colorado Attorney General’s office.
Instead, the pair are accused of using the funds for their own person expenses.
In October, Lee County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested the pair in their Cape Coral home on an out-of-state warrant.
FLORIDA CHARGES
Philip Scolaro has a long criminal history with accusations of fraud and theft in multiple states.
He’s currently facing felony charges in St. Lucie County, after authorities there say he defrauded victims who believed the pair owned a gold mine in Africa.
Scolaro has also been convicted of fraud in New York and Florida.
He served five years in prison for grand theft charges out of Clay County.
Records from the Florida Department of Corrections show Scolaro was released from prison in 2017.
A few years later, he crossed paths with Sims.
“He told me that he had a gold mine in Africa,” said Sims.
After that first successful transaction, Sims says he became friends with Scolaro and his wife.
The group decided to go into business together.
“We were told if we invested $100,000, we would get a return of $500,000 in six months. Probably a ‘too good to be true’ scenario,” said Sims. “But with verifying funds in an account of over $300,000,000 in an account. I figured our $100,000 was safe.”
But Sims says he’s now out of that money.
The Scolaro’s couldn’t be reached for comment.
The two each have an arraignment for their Colorado charges in early February.
The same day, Philip Scolaro has a court date in St. Lucie County for the felony charges he faces there.
“I don’t want him doing this to anyone else,” said Sims. “If he could get me, he could get the majority of the people out there. It’s really scary.”
