Akihiko Siegfried, 55, was also ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release following his prison sentence and pay $512,341.97 in restitution to the victim.
Siegfried was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on June 17, 2013. He pled guilty on Oct. 28, 2013 to one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering.
According to the facts contained in the indictment as well as the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, in January 2008, Siegfried knocked on the door of the elderly victim's residence and when the door opened Siegfried pretended to be distraught and was crying.
Siegfried falsely told the victim that Siegfried's parents had just died in a car crash and that he had no money and no family to turn to for help. Siegfried asked to borrow money. The victim, who was then an 89-year-old widower of Japanese descent with little family, asked Siegfried if he was Japanese which he replied that he was. He felt sorry for Siegfried and, in part because of their shared Japanese heritage, decided to help Siegfried.
Siegfried borrowed from the victim several times and in the middle of 2008 falsely told the victim he would inherit substantial money as a result of his parents' death, but that it would be tied up in probate for some time and he needed money for paying the associated fees and taxes.
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Ex-Denver resident Akihiko Siegfried sentenced to 63 months in prison for defrauding elderly victim
How can we stop scammers?
ReplyDeleteJail time, everytime, is a good deterent, Thelma.
ReplyDelete