Dana Giacchetto was dubbed by VICE as “The Real ‘Wolf Of Wall Street'”. Why? The former investment banker lived a life of luxury, drugs, and debauchery amongst the who’s who of elite celebrities, all the while sinking himself into a deeper hole of fraud and embezzlement. Some artists his scheme affected included Phish, Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morissette, Q-Tip and R.E.M., totalling in a misappropriation of roughly $9 million.

In the mid-90s, Giacchetto was known for hosting lavish parties for A-listers in his New York City penthouse alongside close friend Leonardo DiCaprio and many other upper echelon industry folks (the picture above shows DiCaprio, Giacchetto and Q-Tip). Through cultivating these relationships, he would convince people to invest their money with his company, the Cassandra Group. He also worked for Sub Pop records (known for releasing Nirvana’s Bleach) as the money manager for all of their acts, in addition to many he would pick up on the side, and their agents and managers.

In 2000 he was arrested for misappropriation of approximately $9 million, including $1 million attributed to funds stolen from Phish. The Securities and Exchange Commission had discovered improprieties in the Cassandra Group’s bookeeping that indicated a classic “asset-kiting scheme” in which one asset is borrowed to cover the disappearance of another.

Closing Phish’s second set on 10/31/13 was “You Never Know,” the sixth of the new songs credited as a full band collaboration. Trey Anastasio introduced the song as being about “a guy who stole all our money,” a likely reference to former money manager Dana Giacchetto who pled guilty to fraud charges in 2000. “You Never Know” appears to be told from the perspective of the thief, who spent some time on top of the world, but now has fallen and is being relentlessly hounded right out of the country. His “friends” aren’t going to help, and his luck seems to have run out. That is, until he comes upon two guys with “piles of cash in Mexico.” Perhaps his luck has turned again.

“I was someone who was extraordinarily successful, beyond his wildest dreams, and I flew too close to the sun and, you know, got really burned,” he told VICE.

Giacchetto was released early from prison and is now involved in apps and the luxury food business. Check out his interview with VICE: