Meet The 2 FSU Fraternity Brothers Who Made An Ass Load Of Money In College Before Becoming FBI Suspects

Harrison Lee10 years ago

Having a job in college can be a beating. You’re either stuck with some minimum wage gig or working at the rec for walking around money. Anthony Murgio and Josh Aaron, Phi Sigma Kappas at FSU, made serious cash, though.

Anthony and Josh went to Florida State University with an entrepreneurial mindset. After growing up in affluent neighborhoods, they got addicted to the money. The two of them joined the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and began to make bank. Anthony rose to the ranks of chapter president while Josh became the chapter secretary. During their time in college, the two started a Google Ad writing empire where they, along with other fraternity brothers, would create ads for companies. They would take a cut and rake in thousands of dollars in commissions every month. Murgio claimed that he pocketed $800,000 during his college days.

Things would turn south after leaving Florida State for each man, who are both 31 now, as they have both been indicted by the FBI.

From Bloomberg:

In indictments unsealed on July 21, Murgio is accused of running a Bitcoin exchange that laundered money for hackers. Aaron is accused of a pump-and-dump scam that used expertly crafted spam e-mails to lure investors into worthless penny stock purchases, generating $2.8 million in illicit profits. Although those indictments don’t involve hacking, an FBI memo reviewed by Bloomberg also links the two men to last summer’s cyber attack on JPMorgan Chase, one of the largest bank hacks in U.S. history.

The FBI plans to use the two to do bigger things with the JP Morgan hacking case. Josh is linked because he had logged onto the servers that were part of the hack to obtain low-level customer data, such as names, addresses, and emails. It’s reported that the two teamed with some Russian hackers who did the actual hacking. Officials arrested Murgio, who is now free on bond, while Aaron remains on the loose, as his location is unknown.

Looks like they both turned into fine, upstanding gentlemen. Maybe I’m a little salty because I missed the boat on Bitcoin, but I hate it. How something can jump from around $5 to over $1,000 in value over a year and a half span has me a little skeptical, once again only because I’m pissed I didn’t get in on the bottom floor.

Penny stocks are a whole different ball game. Was Aaron just trying to be the next Jordan Belfort? If someone tries to throw a bunch of penny stocks at you and says you can become super rich, then you turn and run. In fact, just stay away from them altogether. I once had a former coworker who told me he started getting into them and thought he could legitimately retire five years later at age 27.

The moral of the story here is this: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is..

[via Bloomberg]

Image via FSU Phi Sigma Kappa