BOSTON, Sept. 4, 2013—A West Roxbury man indicted earlier this year for allegedly running a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme was arraigned today on new charges for allegedly demanding an illegal 40% interest rate on a loan his company made to a businesswoman, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

STEVEN PALLADINO (D.O.B. 9/11/57) was arraigned in West Roxbury District Court on one count of usury – commonly referred to as loan sharking – for allegedly contacting the Franklin woman repeatedly by voice mail and text message to seek a $30,000 payment on a $25,000 loan the woman received in February. That rate on a 6-month-old loan equals a 40% annual percentage rate – double the maximum allowed under Massachusetts law, prosecutors said.

Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Goldberger recommended that Palladino’s open bail on more than a dozen indicted charges be revoked and that he be held on $25,000 cash bail on the new charges. Judge Michael Coyne took no action on the motion to revoke, but did impose the requested cash bail.

Palladino and his wife, LORI PALLADINO (D.O.B. 2/17/61), are each charged with five counts of larceny over $250, three counts of making false entries in corporate books, two counts of uttering, three counts of usury, and two counts of tampering with evidence. Steven Palladino is also charged as a common and notorious thief based on more than two dozen prior larceny convictions in Suffolk Superior and Norfolk Superior courts.

Prosecutors allege that both defendants utilized the VIKING FINANCIAL GROUP – which has also been indicted as a corporate entity – to borrow money from investors that often went to the Palladinos’ personal bank accounts and funded their own lavish lifestyle. Money from new investors was then used to repay earlier investors and make monthly payments to all of the investors.

When Viking did loan out money, prosecutors said, it was often at illegally high interest rates – in one case more than 200%. In the latest case, Viking allegedly paid out two checks totaling $25,000 to a Franklin woman who co-owns a construction company in February. On Aug. 11, Steven Palladino allegedly began calling and texting the loan recipient, claiming that the loan was due on Aug. 1 and demanding $30,000 in repayment.

The victim contacted Boston Police, who yesterday apprehended Palladino in his 2012 Mercedes CLS 63 AMG Coupe at a West Roxbury gas station. In his pockets were wads of cash totaling $4,395 and a check to the Viking Financial Group for $3,499.47.

The Suffolk County Grand Jury returned indictments charging the Palladinos on March 13 and March 21. On April 30, the US Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a temporary restraining order freezing Steven Palladino’s assets. At some point after that order, he allegedly transferred the titles of three motor vehicles, including two purchased with proceeds from the alleged Ponzi scheme, from his name or the names of Steven and Lori Palladino jointly to that of Lori Palladino alone at a car dealership in Westwood. Prosecutors say the transfer was intended, in whole or in part, to conceal the source, ownership, or control of property derived from criminal activity. He is expected to face additional charges in Norfolk County for that action.

Palladino was represented today by attorney Philip Tracy. He will return to West Roxbury court on Oct. 7 and Suffolk Superior Court on Sept. 30.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.