"Stockbroker to the stars" imprisoned for fraud found dead at 53
New York City money manager Dana Giacchetto rode high during the 1990s dotcom era as "stockbroker to the stars" - Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and more - only to crash with the market after he was caught stealing millions from non-celebrity clients to prop up the portfolios of his celebrity pals. Giacchetto was sentenced in 2001 to nearly four years in a federal prison and, once out, never really recovered: He was found dead Sunday in his Upper West Side apartment, face up in bed and foaming at the mouth, according to the New York Daily News. He was 53.
The newspaper reported that his death followed a weekend of partying, including what witnesses described as a scuffle with security guards outside a downtown nightclub on Friday night.
Giacchetto's Twitter account shows pictures of him smiling with his two young boys during the New Year holidays.
The disgraced stockbroker was a New York tabloid staple in the 1990s, typically pictured hanging at clubs and publicity events with DiCaprio and clients like Tobey Maguire and Michael Stipe. The party ended when he pleaded guilty to a fraud involving nearly $10 million of clients' money.
"I have no excuses!" he said at his sentencing in 2001, according to the New York Post. "I lived in a world of fantasy, but I am not this one-dimensional mendacious con."
The ex-con was charged in 2014 with wire fraud after making nearly $10,000 in unauthorized purchases on another person's American Express card, purchasing liquor, food and a plane ticket from Las Vegas to Newark, N.J. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of up to seven months, but Giacchetto walked out of the courtroom with two years' probation.