Ex-Mayo Clinic nurse’s sudden rise to multimillion-dollar real estate mogul a fraud, feds say

Matthew Onofrio’s jump from nurse anesthetist at the Mayo Clinic to boasting hundreds of millions of dollars in sudden wealth through real estate deals became a fantastical success story that attracted a wide audience online.

All just as he entered his 30s.

“I was sitting in an operating room realizing I have so much more potential than this and really feeling like I did not have control over my life,” Onofrio said in an August YouTube video titled “How An Anesthesiologist Became a Real Estate Mogul Worth $160 Million.”

That video has since been removed from YouTube following Onofrio’s indictment on three charges of bank fraud in federal court in Minnesota last month. Federal prosecutors allege the 31-year-old Eau Claire, Wis., resident’s wild success story was so improbable because it was built upon a $35 million bank fraud scheme.

That’s in stark contrast to the tale portrayed in numerous interviews this year on podcasts with titles such as “The Wealthy Way” and “Future Flipper.”

…