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Attorney General Mike DeWine...
DeWine, Miami Cty
Prosecutor announce Arrests in Telemarketing Fraud Ring
Graphic: Generic from Google Graphics
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Miami County
Prosecutor Gary Nasal today announced felony charges against 18
suspects accused of running a telemarketing fraud ring from Ohio and
Florida that has stolen millions of dollars from thousands of victims
in 41 states since 2007. Thirteen of the suspects have been taken into
custody in Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and New York. Those from out of
state will be extradited to Ohio.
“The state of Ohio will not tolerate those who defraud and steal,”
Attorney General DeWine said. “If you commit fraud in Ohio or upon
Ohioans, my office will work to have you prosecuted regardless of where
you are.”
The suspects operated a criminal enterprise of at least three different
companies that targeted victims nationwide who owned inexpensive,
vacant land throughout the U.S., according to the indictment returned
Tuesday. Landowners were fed a series of lies over the phone and led to
believe their land was worth up to 15 times its assessed value. They
were told that they had to pay fees of $500 to almost $16,000 to
guarantee the sale of their land.
Most of these victims are elderly, and some of them originally bought
this land when they returned home from war. Victims were allegedly told
that the suspects would sell their land to eager buyers at lavish
dinner shows in Las Vegas, Nev., Reno, Nev., and St. Louis, Mo. Other
victims were told that investors in a solar energy plant had already
agreed to purchase their land for the inflated value, but to finalize
the sale they had to prepay the closing costs.
The indictment alleges that there were never any buyers, closings, or
sales done in the lifetime of the companies.
The suspects tried to make their scheme appear legitimate. For example,
videos on their website show a number of the suspects talking to a
supposed crowd of eager buyers at what is claimed to be a dinner show
in Las Vegas. But the video was actually filmed in a banquet room at
the Brukner Nature Center in Troy, Ohio, and the only attendees were
employees and family members with no buyers present, the indictment
alleges.
The enterprise was founded in Ohio in 2007 and operated from many
locations, including Troy, Huber Heights, and Vandalia. Later, the
operation opened new branches in the Tampa, Fla., area.
“Criminals should understand that they can’t use Miami County, Ohio, as
a base of operations for their crimes,” Miami County Prosecutor Gary
Nasal said. “I look forward to working with the Attorney General to
investigate and prosecute more of these cases.”
The suspects were indicted for Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt
Activities; Conspiracy; Aggravated Theft of $1.5 million or more;
Telecommunications Fraud; Money Laundering; and Telemarketing Fraud. If
convicted, the ringleaders face charges that can carry a mandatory
minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 37 and a half
years.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division led the
investigation with extensive cooperation from the Bureau of Criminal
Investigation (BCI), the Clark County Sheriff, the Huber Heights Police
Department, the Florida Attorney General, the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, the Pinellas County Sheriff, and the United States Postal
Inspection Service. William Schenck, Jonathan Blanton, and Ryan
Stubenrauch from the Ohio Attorney General’s office have been appointed
special assistant prosecutors for this case.
This case was one of the first investigations undertaken after Attorney
General DeWine created the Economic Crimes Division within the Consumer
Protection Section. It was created in March of 2011 with the purpose of
identifying criminal conduct in consumer fraud cases and assisting
Ohio’s prosecuting attorneys in holding scammers criminally
accountable. To date, 40 people have been charged with felonies
as a result of investigations out of the Division.
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