Donor Promises Millions of Dollars to Charities, Then Leaves Town
March 23, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
A man posing as a rich heart surgeon promised $5.8-million to arts organizations in San Jose, Calif., but disappeared this month, leaving behind thousands of dollars of unpaid hotel bills, reports The Mercury News.
Calling himself Emilio Maschino—apparently an alias—he told people he had inherited $99-million of Google and Yahoo stock from his father. Mr. Maschino said he planned to donate millions of dollars to Opera San Jose, Symphony Silicon Valley, and San Jose State University’s marching band, among other groups.
But after duping two San Jose residents into paying $11,000 in hotel bills, he skipped town with the police at his heels.
“Needless to say, we are disappointed,” Michael Miller, chief executive of American Musical Theatre, wrote in an e-mail message to the newspaper.
