East Greenwich film producer indicted in alleged `Magic Mike' investment scheme

PROVIDENCE -- The East Greenwich man who co-produced a 2019 film about one of the nation’s most audacious heists is facing charges that he swindled would-be investors in his Las Vegas stage show of $4.2 million.

John A. Santilli Jr., 47, a producer who worked on movies such as "There’s Something About Mary" and the more recent "Vault", was arrested Tuesday morning at home in Rhode Island on a 10-count indictment out of California based on allegations stemming from "Magic Mike Live", a stage show chronicling the life of a male stripper.  The charges include eight counts of wire fraud and one count each of fraud and aggravated identity theft.

He appeared Tuesday morning before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond and was released on $100,000 unsecured bond. His lawyer, John Calcagni, did not immediately return a phone call.

The indictment traces a complicated scheme in which Santilli is alleged to have solicited investments in exchange for a percentage of the purported profits from "Magic Mike Live". Instead, he misappropriated much of the money, including withdrawing more than $1 million at casinos nationwide, according to federal prosecutors in California.

According to the indictment, Santilli managed and partly owned Aloris Entertainment LLC, which acquired interest in another entity, Mike’s Mobile Detailing, LLC, through securities known as Class A Units. It's Mike’s Mobil that operates the "Magic Mike Live" show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Santilli is alleged to have solicited investments in Aloris Magic Mike LP, a business that he falsely told investors held Class A Units. Authorities say Santilli lied to investors, telling them that in return for their investments they would be entitled to a percentage of the profits from the live show.

To further his scheme, Santilli doctored legal documents to make it appear that Aloris Magic Mike LP was a shareholder of Mike’s Mobile Detailing, according to the indictment.

If convicted of all the charges, Santilli would face a maximum of 182 years in prison. A conviction for aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years behind bars.

It is not the first time Santilli’s business practices have received scrutiny. Investors sued him and Aloris Entertainment LLC in 2018 for allegedly lying about landing an agreement with The Weinstein Company and intermingling and pocketing money in a series of proposed production deals, including one for the comic anthology "Tales of the Crypt."

That case was voluntarily dismissed by the parties in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island in August 2019. A lawyer for the investors would not comment on how the case resolved. A call to Santilli's lawyer in that case, Michael J. Lepizzera Jr., was not immediately returned.

Santilli is listed as a co-producer of "Vault", a movie released in 2019 spotlighting the brazen robbery by five armed men of the Patriarca crime family’s “bank” at the Hudson Fur Storage at 101 Cranston St. in Providence’s West Side in August 1975. The heist of some $34 million amounted to one of the largest ever.

The film was produced by Chad A. Verdi, of the East Greenwich-based Verdi Productions, and directed by Tom DeNucci.