Ex-fugitive Mollicone violates probation after stiffing taxpayers of restitution
by: Tim White
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Joseph Mollicone, the ex-fugitive whose multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme triggered the Rhode Island banking crisis in 1991, is again in trouble for failing to make restitution payments.
In August, Magistrate Gina Lopes determined Mollicone, 81, was in violation of the conditions of his probation and revoked all of his good-time credits.
The order means Mollicone will now be on probation through July of 2033. He was supposed to be out from under probation in September.
Mollicone is also barred from earning further good-time credits that would chip away at his time on probation moving forward.
In a separate order, Lopes also reduced his required monthly restitution payments from $270 to $70, slowing to a trickle his rate of repaying $12 million to Rhode Island taxpayers. Mollicone has previously claimed financial hardship.
Court spokesperson Lexi Kriss said Mollicone has paid roughly $54,000 in restitution since he started making payments when he was released from prison in 2002.
The restitution is intended to reimburse taxpayers for bailing out the Heritage Loan and Investment Co., a Federal Hill bank Mollicone ran at the time.
According to investigators, Mollicone began methodically siphoning money from the institution starting in at least 1986 to fund a lavish lifestyle.
In 1990, when the money ran out and Mollicone learned of a criminal investigation, he went on the lam, triggering an international manhunt. He was tracked down 17 months later living under a fake identity in Utah.
In 1993 a jury convicted Mollicone on 26 criminal counts including fraud and embezzlement. A judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison. He served 10 years before being released on parole in 2002.
Investigators blamed Mollicone’s institution for igniting the crisis that brought down the R.I. Share & Deposit Indemnity Corp, also known as RISDIC.
On Jan. 1, 1991, within an hour of taking office, newly inaugurated Gov. Bruce Sundlun ordered 45 banks closed, leaving hundreds of thousands of depositors locked out of their own money. The state sales tax subsequently increased from 6% to 7%, where it has since remained.
Mollicone’s court-appointed attorney did not return a request for comment.
He is scheduled to be back in court for a restitution review in January.
Two decades of court records reviewed by Target 12 show Mollicone has rarely made any substantive restitution payment, routinely dropping off as little as $50 early on in monthly payments to Superior Court, to sometimes as high as $300.
In January 2023, Lopes denied Mollicone’s request to lower the required $270 monthly restitution payments, but he never met that mark. Throughout the rest of that year and into 2024, Mollicone made between $60-$70 in monthly payments.
Tim White (twhite@wpri.com) is Target 12 managing editor and chief investigative reporter and host of Newsmakers for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.
Eli Sherman contributed to this report