Accused Fraudster Loffredo Talks: At 24 He Owned a $2M Mansion and at 28 He Is Accused of Owing Tens of Millions

Accused Fraudster Loffredo Talks: At 24 He Owned a $2M Mansion and at 28 He Is Accused of Owing Tens of Millions

There are growing claims that a Rhode Island businessman has borrowed tens of millions of dollars and failed to repay loans to everyone, from millionaire businessmen to a former employee.

 

He is also accused of a series of sexual crimes.

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On Friday, GoLocal unveiled accusations and court battles involving Andrew Loffredo, the man at the center of the controversies.

 

One court case involves more than a dozen Rhode Island businesses, including well-known restaurants Caffe Itri and Campanella’s, owned by the  28-year-old entrepreneur Loffredo.

 

He is also a defendant in a domestic court case, in which he says he is accused of rape and child rape. Loffredo denies the charges.

 

Loffredo also claims that in recent weeks, two men dressed in black came to his home with the intent to kill him or his children.

 

Court Action

Last Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Brian Stern placed 15 businesses tied to Loffredo into receivership.

 

Under Loffredo’s control, both of the Cranston restaurants closed. Prior to Loffredo’s ownership, they had both been in business for more than 30 years. With the closure of the two restaurants, about 50 employees lost their jobs.

 

Since that initial GoLocal story, GoLocal has talked to Loffredo on the phone and in person for more than three hours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

 

Loffredo says he graduated from Coventry High School and then dropped out of Rhode Island College after two weeks. In just a few years, he amassed ownership in a dizzying array of diverse businesses — real estate, an environmental cleanup firm, a home improvement company, restaurants, a bakery, and more. All of those companies are now under the control of the temporary receiver Richard Land. And questions and accusations are emerging that all of this was done with other people's money.

 

Over the course of the interviews, Loffredo discussed his rise and now his fall in detail with GoLocal. Not all of his claims add up.

 

According to Loffredo, the major cause of his business's collapse is what he claims are false accusations by his girlfriend, Jill Pitcavage, the mother of his children. The couple's children are two and a half years old and ten months old.

 

The couple lived together for four years, and much of that time they resided in a 6,000-square-foot mansion in East Greenwich that he bought in 2023. When he bought the property, it was the third most expensive home ever sold in East Greenwich at a price of $2 million.

 

 

But now the couple's relationship has dramatically changed.

 

She had accused him of rape and child rape in February, then she retracted the claims, and then refiled a complaint, said Loffredo. According to Loffredo, those new charges are now pending in the Rhode Island Family Court, and the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families is investigating.

 

He says her abuse allegations and her business lawsuit are linked. Loffredo provided GoLocal with screenshots he says are text messages between Pitcavage and him, in which he warns her that her allegations will ruin their businesses.

 

"Jill, I 100% believe is using all of this, in preparation for a custody battle. As she admitted in her, both of her affidavits that she filed in family court, you know, she knew I would not let her leave the house with the kids on a full time basis,” said Loffredo.

 

“So, given the rumors that have been circulating from Jill's family court affidavit, she's claimed that I have raped her. She's claimed that I've raped my children. She's claiming that I'm raping my nieces and nephews. You know, I have people calling my parents and my sisters asking them about it," said Loffredo.

 

"She's claimed that I intentionally dislocated my son's elbow. My son's had nursemaid's elbow. When she went to file that family court affidavit on April 3rd, unfortunately, he fell and had nursemaid's elbow. Again, I immediately took him to Hasbro Children's Hospital," said Loffredo.

 

Despite those allegations, he says he still has custody of his children for three days a week.

 

By agreement, those visits are supervised by his parents.

 

As Golocal reported last week, Pitcavage has also filed a civil lawsuit against Loffredo, alleging multiple crimes — the lawsuit alleges five counts against Loffredo: identity theft, forgery, intentional misrepresentation/fraud, conversion, and unjust enrichment.

 

He said before the business trouble, things were good.

 

“You know, she (Jill) was driving around $127,000 BMW. You know, everything was great,” said Loffredo.

 

$30 Million Question for Loffredo

Three sources with direct knowledge of Loffredo’s business arrangements confirm to GoLocal that he has failed to pay back Rhode Island businessman Stephen Soscia approximately $30 million.

 

Soscia’s company, Rett Holdings, has filed as an intervener in the receivership case seeking payment of millions of dollars.  In court filings, Rett states, "Simply, Loffredo defrauded Rett Holdings and induced it to lend monies it otherwise would not have done so if Loffredo was honest and truthful about his intentions for the use of the loan proceeds," claims Rett in submission to the court.

 

Further, Rett claims in its filing to the court, “Specifically, Loffredo signed personal guaranties to Rett Holdings in consideration of loan amounts, which exceed millions of dollars. (emphasis added.) The Guarantees signed by Loffredo, amount to a significant amount of money. The total sum loaned to Loffredo from Rett Holding has not been collected in full. Therefore, Rett Holdings has an absolute right to intervene in this matter, as its interest in collecting Loffredo's personal assets will be affected through the adjudicatory exercise by this Court."

 

Loffredo says about Soscia.  “He's been a mentor in my life. You know, he helped accomplish a lot of my business,” Loffredo said on Friday in an interview at GoLocal.

 

But he repeatedly refused to identify exactly how much he owes Soscia.

 

 

Loffredo Numbers Change

On Friday, Loffredo said the debt to Soscia was about $1 million.

 

“I don't want to go into the full development, but yes, I mean, I would say it is in the million dollar ballpark and unfortunately, given to us winding down some of those businesses last year, it exposed him to some of the debt that it is that we still had to try to pay back to him, which, you know, not to veer off this path, but getting everything into the new LLCs that it is that we were doing this year.  You know, bank records will show it and I know Jill mentioned it in her affidavit, you know, we were trying to conventionally finance all of the companies that it is that we had left, whether it was the operating ones, as well as the real estate, get him paid off and to, you know, again, try to live a different lifestyle where we're not running around the clock,” said Loffredo on Friday in an interview with GoLocal.

 

“Steve in the time that I've met him then most people would learn in a lifetime he's a genuine caring family man who I've admired and you know as well as my parents as well you know I would say Steve was kind of like a secondary father figure you know not only would I give business advice from him I'd get real-life advice from him, family advice...” said Loffredo.

 

But while Loffredo first said the debt owed to Soscia was in the $1 million range, when GoLocal pressed him on the amount of the debt and that GoLocal was told by individuals that the debt was in the range of $30 million, he said it was not that much.

 

He later claimed that his debt to Soscia exceeded $10 million.

 

In a call on Saturday morning, Loffredo admitted the amount he owed to Soscia was significantly higher than the $1 million he had claimed a day earlier.

 

“I think it's less than $20 million. I mean, I think it's more in the realm of $10 million to $15 million. Okay,” said Loffredo. He added, “And, you know, it's going to take 10, 15 plus years, you know, get the debt paid back. But I think at this point it's preserving what we can of these assets. And again, just stopping the bleeding.

 

 

Attempt to Kill Loffredo

According to Loffredo, he believes there was an attempt on his life or that of his children in April.

 

“I looked out the window, you know, I saw his car there with his lights on, so I went out to see what was going on. And as I opened the door (of his home), I saw two individuals. I have no lighting in my backyard, so I believe they were wearing all black, but, you know, because of how dark it was outside, I really couldn't see," said Loffredo.

 

"They were running towards the woods in my backyard, and I looked down and I saw a gun with a photo of my children in the chamber with their faces crossed off, and there was a note. Unfortunately, and as I expressed to the East Greenwich police officer who came up, I told them that I picked up the paper and the gun, and that my handprints were all over it. But as soon as I picked it up, I put it down. I mean, I was in shock,” added Loffredo.

 

Loffredo says East Greenwich Police and the Rhode Island State Police investigated the claim. He said drones and K-9 were deployed.

 

This story is developing...