California boiler room collected $5.7 million for Oklahoma gas wells it never acquired; owner gets 63 months
Alan Brian Baiocchi, 47, of Newport Beach, California, president and operator of the telemarketing boiler room Intro Technology Services (ITS), was sentenced on November 21, 2005 to 63 months in prison and $3.8 million in restitution. From 1995 to 1997 his telemarketers in Newport Beach and Montreal cold-called people soliciting investments in oil and gas wells in Oklahoma, and more than 200 victims invested more than $5.7 million.
- Year
- 2005
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $5.7 million
- Victims
- 200
- Schemes
- Oil and gas investment fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-28
The facts, as recorded
- A federal jury in Santa Ana convicted Baiocchi of two counts of wire fraud in September 2005 after a two-week trial. Judge David O. Carter sentenced him to 63 months and ordered $3.8 million in restitution, of which $813,000 was due within one month.
- Beginning in 1995, Baiocchi and his telemarketers in Newport Beach and Montreal cold-called people around the country soliciting investments in Oklahoma oil and gas wells.
- Many victims were told the investment was safe because gas wells were already acquired and producing, when no gas wells had been acquired.
- Baiocchi concealed from all investors that 60 percent of the money they initially sent was not going to the drilling of oil wells but was kept by him and his telemarketers.
- From 1995 to 1997, more than 200 victims invested more than $5.7 million, and more than $2.9 million of it never went to the drilling of the wells but to bank accounts he controlled.
- The case was investigated by the California Department of Justice, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI and the SEC.
Why this case matters
It is the earliest of the four. The release names two things said to the victims that were not true, that wells were already acquired and producing, and one thing not said, that 60 percent of their money would not go to drilling.
The caveat
Baiocchi was convicted at trial and sentenced, so the conduct above is what the U.S. Attorney’s Office said and the jury’s verdict on two counts of wire fraud. The release gives the conduct as 1995 to 1997 and the sentence in 2005. It does not say what became of the other telemarketers, and this page does not either.
Sources
- Newport Beach telemarketer sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for running massive oil and gas fraud scheme. U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California. Accessed 2026-10-28. Supports: Every fact above: the conviction and sentence, the cold calls from Newport Beach and Montreal, the claim that gas wells were acquired and producing, the 60 percent kept, the 200 victims and $5.7 million, the $2.9 million and the investigating agencies.