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PROVO -- Two people hired to raise money for a group that wants to open a toll bridge over Utah Lake are accused of running a scam.
The group Utah Crossing has been working on plans to build a toll bridge across Utah Lake, with an estimated cost around $600 million. To help raise money for the project, the group hired two people who pitched themselves as "investment bankers and financial planners" capable of raising a lot of money.
Now the two "bankers" have been indicted in New Jersey, where their business is based, for being nothing more than scam artists.
The New Jersey attorney general says Albert A. Paramito Jr., 39, of Marlton, N.J., and Priti Ramjee, a Toronto woman who is Paramito's partner, stole more than $500,000 from six clients around the country and Canada. That includes the Utah Crossing group that paid roughly $60,000 upfront and received nothing in return.
A grand jury indicted Paramito and Ramjee Sept. 16 for conspiracy, theft by deception and money laundering, all in the second degree. Paramito and Ramjee were also charged with second-degree misconduct by a corporate official.
The two suspects could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The Utah Transportation Commission has not yet decided if the state should grant a lease for the bridge to be built.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
