MIAMI – A caller posing as a U.S. government official told a victim that he or she had won a prize, but before collecting it, the victim needed to pay taxes and fees. There wasn’t a prize. That’s how federal agents said a group defrauded more than 400 people, mostly seniors, out of $4.5 million for about three years.
The callers persuaded the victims to send out the funds through money orders, wire deposits, Western Union, or Moneygram, according to federal prosecutors. To seem more believable, the callers in Costa Rica used technology to make it appear as though they were calling from a government, according to federal prosecutors.
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FBI special agents identified Manuel Chavez, 32, and Paul Stiep, 30, as the two who sent the ill-gained funds from South Florida to Costa Rica where Mark Oman operated the call center. They were convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and international money laundering.
Oman was sentenced to three years and one month in prison and Stiep was sentenced to seven years in prison. Chavez was sentenced to 133 months in prison, federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday. The other suspects that prosecutors listed in the 2021 case were Roger Roger, David Nigh, Cole Parks, and Nicholas Richer.
Aside from the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the IRS Criminal Investigation agencies were also involved in the case. Authorities are asking anyone who is 60 years old or older who has been a victim of financial fraud to call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311.