Scammer dubbed the ‘real life Talented Mr. Ripley’ who used $1.1million to fund his luxury lifestyle of fast cars, a 12,000sqf home and piloting hobby is unmasked

A conman who spent years defrauding people and stealing $1.1 million in COVID funds to support his lavish lifestyle has been identified as he faces jail for his crimes.

Joey Cipolla drove a Lamborghini and a Bentley that were regularly parked in the driveway of his 12,000-square-foot mansion in Bloomingdale, Illinois, an affluent area outside Chicago.

He had his own Cessna plane, which he could fly, and was known for betting thousands of dollars on a line at casinos.

Instead of being a legitimate businessman, Cipolla was an outright fraudster and con artist throughout his adult life. He previously pleaded guilty to duping people into selling luxury cars on eBay and using COVID funds to buy his house.

Now federal prosecutors want him locked up for 10 years while they prepare their case for sentencing.

“He’s like a talented Mr. Ripley,” Chicago restaurateur and victim Dion Antic said the Chicago Tribune. “He’s an arch criminal, and this has been going on for years.”

Antic referenced the 1999 film about a con artist when talking about Cipolla once giving him a fake check for $35,000 for a used Corvette.

Three years ago, Antic started a Facebook account called “Conned by Joey Cipolla” as an outlet for his frustration, which now has more than 100 followers. He and other Cipolla victims have since formed a lasting bond over their shared experiences.

Those who make up Antic’s defrauded community say Cipolla’s sentence is just a fraction of what he deserves to be held accountable.

In November, Cipolla pleaded guilty to his crimes. Prosecutors want him locked up for 10 years. His defense argues for a prison sentence of seven years.

“It was a lifestyle fueled by unbridled greed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Chapman wrote in a recent court filing. “There is no good reason to believe that Cipolla, once released, will renounce his life of fraud and pursue a lawful path to the necessities of life.”

According to his lawyer, Cipolla is sober in prison while awaiting trial and wants to turn his life around.

Cipolla’s criminal history and allegations against him are lengthy.

In November, Cipolla pleaded guilty to his crimes. Prosecutors want him locked up for 10 years. His defense argues for a prison sentence of seven years.

In November, Cipolla pleaded guilty to his crimes. Prosecutors want him locked up for 10 years. His defense argues for a prison sentence of seven years.

The most serious incident that is still shrouded in mystery occurred in 2017, when Jeffery Charles Fox, 46, of Evanston, died when he fell 39 stories from the balcony of Cipolla’s Chicago apartment in a luxury building steps away from Lake Michigan.

Fox was accused two years earlier of assaulting a woman who is now Cipolla’s wife.

Cipolla was not accused of any wrongdoing in that case. Fox’s death was ruled an accident by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

In 2008, Cipolla had 15 convictions in four states, mostly for writing bad checks to purchase vehicles. After serving time in Illinois and Michigan, he was released on parole in 2010 and in 2014 the court no longer monitored his release.

“By 2016, he had returned to the relatively cheaper trick of defrauding people in the sale of individual vehicles,” U.S. Attorney Chapman wrote in a filing.

Chapman added that Cipolla forged paperwork to obtain an FAA pilot’s license, after which his plans turned to aircraft sales and rentals.

He founded companies, including one that kept planes in hangars at the DuPage County Airport, outside Chicago.

Cipolla also had a car business on eBay. He admitted to defrauding customers by illegally rolling back the mileage on exotic vehicles he sold.

Sometimes he even accepted payments for vehicles he never owned, while also offloading cars that were in much worse condition than listed.

These aircraft and auto companies allowed Cipolla to apply for more than $1.35 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans, which were introduced during the pandemic to help business owners struggling through lockdowns.

Cipolla’s guilty plea stated that $1.18 million was actually given through the program, and he said he used the lion’s share of that money to buy his five-bedroom, nine-bathroom home in Bloomingdale.

According to an FBI search warrant, the home sold for $1.3 million in July 2020.

He also spent the money on goods and jewelry from Louis Vuitton.

Cipolla was eventually caught up in the scam when he was indicted on federal tax charges in April 2022.

Prosecutors wanted Cipolla taken into custody because of his history of fleeing law enforcement, something he tried to do in July 2021 when federal agents raided his home.

Cipolla “attempted to evade officers by retreating to the roof of his own residence, causing law enforcement officers to have to talk him off the roof for the safety of Cipolla and the officers,” prosecutors wrote in a motion to deny him bond .

Weeks before his April 2022 arraignment, Cipolla was pulled over for speeding and told officers he thought federal agents were following him. Cipolla later admitted to using cocaine shortly before the traffic stop, the Tribune reported.

Cipolla was hit with a superseding indictment in the fall of 2022 and was ordered by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly on Nov. 29 that year to turn himself in to federal marshals that day, according to court records.

Sure enough, as prosecutors warned, officers following him saw Cipolla get into a vehicle without license plates and attempt to flee.

After being arrested, he was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, where he has been held without bond ever since.

The court heard from Cipolla on Tuesday through a letter he wrote apologizing for his “downright greedy and selfish behavior.”

“I sold cars and told people what they wanted to hear just to make a sale,” Cipolla wrote. “I’m sorry to anyone who lost money, and I mean that sincerely.”