Man Posing as Habsburg Royal Admits to $5.9 Million Ponzi Scheme

Sylvein Scalleone, who legally changed his name to Sylvein William Maximilian D’Habsburg XVII, targeted elderly churchgoers with fraudulent investment claims.

• Sylvein Scalleone, 48, of West Hills, California, pretended to be a Habsburg heir to defraud elderly churchgoers, particularly from the local Filipino community, out of $5.9 million.
• Operating from 2018 to 2023, Scalleone used recruiters to attract investors to his companies, Wild Rabbit Technologies LLC and BAI Intelligence LLC, under false pretenses.
• He falsely claimed his companies had artificial intelligence capable of predicting the future and detecting COVID-19 through video recordings, and that high-profile figures like Kobe Bryant and Steve Wozniak had invested $500 million.
• Instead of funding business operations, Scalleone used the money to purchase luxury items, including a 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II and 19th-century Italian giltwood thrones.
• Scalleone has agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, with the case being investigated by the FBI.

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