February 20 2016
Category:
Investing.com -- An Ohio man was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison for a money laundering conviction stemming from his role in a Costa Rica-based sweepstakes scam that targeted elderly residents in the U.S., the Department of Justice announced on Friday.Paul Toth, 41, of Wintersville, Ohio, was sentenced to prison by U.S. District Court judge Robert Conrad in the Western District of North Carolina and was ordered to pay more than $307,000 in restitution. In August, Toth was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and six counts of international money laundering. According to evidence presented at the trial, Toth's co-conspirators in Costa Rica posed as federal agents, who convinced the elderly victims that they had won a large prize in a sweepstakes contest. The victims, a husband and wife over the age of 55, were told by Toth's co-conspirators that they needed to wire thousands of dollars to Costa Rica to fulfill a "refundable insurance fee."Toth, according to court filings, operated as a U.S.-based “smasher,” who arranges picked up ill-gotten victims’ funds and brought it to a fraudulent telemarketing organization, which completed the process of laundering the money out of the country.According to an October, 2014 indictment, Toth collected more than $300,000 in unlawful funds and distributed $200,000 through Western Union wire transfers during a period between November, 2009 and November, 2010. Toth allegedly worked with Christopher Lee Griffin, a defendant who is facing charges on telemarketing fraud. Toth was able to keep the remaining $100,000 as profit.The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Homeland Security.Federal prosecutors in the Western District of North Carolina have convicted more than 45 defendants in cases related to sweepstakes fraud, dating back to last June.
Category:
Investing.com -- An Ohio man was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison for a money laundering conviction stemming from his role in a Costa Rica-based sweepstakes scam that targeted elderly residents in the U.S., the Department of Justice announced on Friday.Paul Toth, 41, of Wintersville, Ohio, was sentenced to prison by U.S. District Court judge Robert Conrad in the Western District of North Carolina and was ordered to pay more than $307,000 in restitution. In August, Toth was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and six counts of international money laundering. According to evidence presented at the trial, Toth's co-conspirators in Costa Rica posed as federal agents, who convinced the elderly victims that they had won a large prize in a sweepstakes contest. The victims, a husband and wife over the age of 55, were told by Toth's co-conspirators that they needed to wire thousands of dollars to Costa Rica to fulfill a "refundable insurance fee."Toth, according to court filings, operated as a U.S.-based “smasher,” who arranges picked up ill-gotten victims’ funds and brought it to a fraudulent telemarketing organization, which completed the process of laundering the money out of the country.According to an October, 2014 indictment, Toth collected more than $300,000 in unlawful funds and distributed $200,000 through Western Union wire transfers during a period between November, 2009 and November, 2010. Toth allegedly worked with Christopher Lee Griffin, a defendant who is facing charges on telemarketing fraud. Toth was able to keep the remaining $100,000 as profit.The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Homeland Security.Federal prosecutors in the Western District of North Carolina have convicted more than 45 defendants in cases related to sweepstakes fraud, dating back to last June.
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