rhodyjourno OP t1_jclem17 wrote on March 17, 2023 at 5:56 PM

BACKSTORY: From Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket and Skyline at Waterplace in Providence to Alex and Ani, ripping off the city and state of Rhode Island. This is the story of Michael Mota -- whose secret behind his success is tireless networking, great timing, and some smoke and mirrors.

My colleague Amanda Milkovits has been working on this story for the last year. Read a snippet below.

Michael A. Mota leaned back in a black leather chair in his second-floor office, next to a framed poster of him surrounded by actors famed for portraying Hollywood mobsters, and talked confidently about his business plans.
He spun tales about the value of the cryptocurrency he launched, his popular conventions aimed at fans of mob movies and “The Sopranos,” his connections with celebrities and power players, and the successes of his convention and entertainment company, VirtualCons.
In press releases and online, he calls himself “Dr. Mota,” referring to an honorary doctorate he received last fall, and says he was a vice president at Alex and Ani, the once high-flying jewelry company. He says unnamed overseas investors and others want to sink millions into his plans “because I am a smart guy, just so you know.”

And he has emerged as a key player in two of Rhode Island’s most prominent properties where his boasts are no less grand — and the results so far underwhelming at best.
As CEO of Skyline at Waterplace, a shimmering event venue in downtown Providence, Mota once proposed building an amphitheater and ornate Bellagio-style fountains in the mucky tidal river.
And Mota claims his company, Bayport International Holdings, has a $50 million to $90 million redevelopment plan for the former Memorial Hospital property in Pawtucket, which will help solve the state’s housing crisis along the way.
There’s just one problem: Mota’s tales of success are largely fictional, a Globe investigation shows.
Skyline hadn’t paid its rent to the city of Providence for months, city officials say, and there’s no record that Mota made renovations that were promised in exchange for avoiding rent for nearly three years.
Bayport International Holdings is a defunct company. Its stock is worthless, industry analysts say.

Mota’s doctorate comes from a diploma mill that provides honorary degrees for a price, the Globe’s research found. His work at Alex and Ani has been exaggerated — the company’s founder told the Globe he never served as its vice president.
The list goes on.
“Don’t trust him,” said Rhode Island filmmaker David Bettencourt, who worked directly with Mota at a marketing company that was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alex and Ani. “You can’t listen to anything he says.”