'Mini-Madoff' Accused of $400M Ponzi Scheme Surrenders

HICKSVILLE, New York — The FBI says the owner of a Long Island investment firm has turned himself in to face accusations he cheated clients out of more than $100 million.

FBI spokesman Jim Margolin says Nicholas Cosmo surrendered on Monday night.

Cosmo runs Agape World Inc. in Hauppauge. He's accused of taking in $300 million from investors and cheating them out of about $140 million.

A letter hanging in Cosmo's office window denies there was any pyramid scheme, the type of fraud Bernard Madoff is accused of committing. A Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme promises unusually high returns and pays early investors with money from later investors.

Cosmo is expected to appear in court Tuesday.

Defense attorneys at the Herrick Feinstein law firm haven't returned telephone calls seeking comment.

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