by Cody Miller
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A federal judge in
New York ordered 15 individuals and companies to cease their involvement
with fraudulent mailings targeting the elderly on Monday, Oct. 21.
Among
the 15 defendants is North Las Vegas resident Dennis Hunsaker, who with
his company, Digital Matrix International Inc, played a key role in the
fraudulent ploy.
According to a release from the Department of
Justice, the defendants mailed and assisted in the mailing of thousands
of solicitations disguised as individualized notices. These notices
falsely stated that the recipients had won large sums of money or
valuable prizes yet needed to pay a fee to claim the winnings.
The solicitations were mailed to victims throughout the world, and
many victims returned their payments but received nothing in return.
These
schemes defrauded a number of individuals and grossed around $4.8
million in just the last year, according to the complaint.
Monday’s order ends the defendants’ involvement in the multi-million dollar schemes.
.“Anyone
who engages in deceptive practices like this should know they will not
go undetected and will be held accountable, regardless of where they
are," said Inspector in Charge Delany DeLeon-Colon of the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group.
Hunsaker and his company enabled the scheme by providing tools that managed lists of recipients and respondents.
Other defendants reside across the U.S. as well as Canada and Germany.
Permanent
injunctions were issued after the New York district court granted a
request for a temporary restraining order against the defendants. This
prohibits the defendants, including Hunsaker, from sending fraudulent
solicitations, receiving, handling, or opening any victim mail and using
or benefitting from the lists of respondents.
“These permanent
injunctions stop unscrupulous individuals and companies from conducting
fraudulent solicitation schemes that targeted the elderly in our
district and throughout the country and the world,” said U. S. Attorney
Richard P. Donoghue of the Eastern District of New York. “This office
will continue to use all available resources to protect victims of
get-rich-quick schemes.”
This case is a part of the DOJ’s Elder Fraud Initiative.
Full Article & Source:
Las Vegas man among 15 defendants in international mailing scheme targeting the elderly
No comments:
Post a Comment