Telemarketer Sentenced
for His Role in a
Massive Fraud Scheme
Targeting U.S. Residents
A room manager of a
telemarketing call
centre operating out of
Costa Rica was sentenced
today to 11 years in
prison for his
participation in a
massive, Costa
Rica-based,
telemarketing fraud
scheme that targeted
thousands of U.S.
residents, resulting in
victim losses of more
than us$10 million,
Acting Assistant
Attorney General Matthew
Friedrich of the
Criminal Division
announced.
Juan Luis Llamas, 33, of
Yuba City, Calif., was
sentenced today by U.S.
District Judge Frank D.
Whitney of the Western
District of North
Carolina. Judge Whitney
also ordered Llamas to
pay restitution of
us$4.2 million jointly
and severally with
co-conspirators.
Llamas is the 30th
defendant to be
sentenced on conspiracy
and wire fraud charges
from a series of
indictments returned by
federal grand juries in
Charlotte and Asheville,
N.C. Llamas pleaded
guilty on Nov. 26, 2007.
The indictments in this
case charge the
defendants with
conspiring to defraud
U.S. residents, most
over the age of 55, out
of millions of dollars
by deceiving them into
believing they had won a
large monetary prize in
a "sweepstakes contest."
According to the
indictments, calls to
victims were made from
Costa Rica using Voice
over Internet Protocol
(VoIP), which utilized
computers to make
telephone calls over the
Internet, disguising the
originating location of
the calls. Victims were
informed that the
callers were purportedly
from the "Sweepstakes
Security Commission" and
that to receive their
"prize," they were to
wire thousands of
dollars to Costa Rica
for a purported
"refundable insurance
fee."
According to the
indictment, as long as
the victims continued to
pay, the co-conspirators
continued to solicit
them to send more money.
To date, 33 defendants
have pleaded guilty and
three have been
convicted by jury
trials. On Sept. 24,
2008, telemarketing room
owner Giuseppe Pileggi,
48, of Montreal, Canada,
was sentenced to 50
years in prison, and
ordered to forfeit
us$8.3 million.
An indictment is merely
an allegation, and every
defendant is presumed
innocent until proven
guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt.
The investigation is
being conducted by a
multi-agency task force
comprised of law
enforcement authorities
from Costa Rica, the
U.S. Postal
Investigative Service,
the Departments of
Justice and Commerce,
along with the
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Division of
the Department of
Homeland Security. |
