-Published: Tuesday, January 28, 2020-




By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

The U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced on Friday two U.S. citizens were sentenced to prison for their roles in a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme targeting the elderly and other vulnerable victims.

The two individuals were, a man surnamed Stencil, 62, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and another man surnamed Duke, 51, of Richardson, Texas, were each sentenced at the federal court in the Western District of North Carolina.

Five other defendants have pleaded guilty in this matter and have already been sentenced, they are surnamed:

Sierp, 48, U.S. Citizen resident in Costa Rica.

Fleming, 64, of Northridge, California.

Lewis, 53, of Frisco, Texas.

Saccomanno, 62, of Boca Raton, Florida.

Swerdlen, 65, of Boca Raton, Florida

Broyles Sr., 62, of Beverly Hills, California, who was also charged and remains a fugitive.

Sierp is formerly of Boca Raton, Florida, and a resident in Costa Rica, according to the Justice Department. He pleaded guilty in 2017 in two fraud cases before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer of the Western District of North Carolina.

One scheme was a $10 million sweepstakes fraud that targeted elderly U.S. residents, and the other was a $2.5 million high-yield investment fraud scheme, said the Justice Department.

In the first case, Sierp was charged with participating in a $10 million telemarketing sweepstakes scheme, Sierp pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. As part of his guilty plea, Sierp admitted that from approximately January 2011 through September 2015, he worked in various illegal Costa Rican call centers belonging to a co-conspirator, a man surnamed Rosenberg, where they placed telephone calls to U.S. residents, falsely informing them that they had won a substantial cash prize in a sweepstakes, said the Justice Department.

The victims, many of whom were elderly, were told that in order to receive the prize, they had to pay for a purported refundable insurance fee, Sierp admitted. Sierp further admitted that after he received victims’ money for an initial fee, he would contact the victims again to demand additional purported fees to cover even larger promised prizes. Sierp further admitted that he and his co-conspirators continued their attempts to collect additional money from a victim until that victim either ran out of money or discovered the fraudulent nature of the scheme.

To further their fraud and mask that they were calling from Costa Rica, Sierp and his co-conspirators often falsely claimed that they were calling on behalf of a U.S. federal agency and utilized voice over internet protocol phones that displayed a 202 area code, giving the false impression that they were calling from Washington, D.C., he admitted.

In the second case, the high-yield investment fraud scheme, Sierp pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. As part of his guilty plea in this case, Sierp admitted that he worked with co-conspirators since at least January 2016 to sell stock of a Nevada corporation, purportedly operating from Charlotte, North Carolina, said the Justice Department.

Sierp admitted that he and his co-conspirators falsely marketed the firm as a manufacturer of compressed natural gas automobiles and a distributor of compressed natural gas fuel that had patented technology, valuable contracts and high-profile executives. Sierp also admitted that he and his co-conspirators falsely sold investors on a promise that the firm was planning an imminent stock placement that would reap pre-placement investors a tenfold return on their investments, the Justice Department said

In truth, Sierp admitted, he and his co-conspirators knew that company had no facilities, products, patents or plans for an imminent stock offering, but rather was merely a vehicle for inducing investor funds.

Sierp further admitted that he made all investor sales using a fake name from a telemarketing call center that he owned and operated in Costa Rica.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated the cases.

Stencil was sentenced to 135 months in prison, and was also ordered to pay $2.7 million in restitution and to forfeit $868,317.58, according to the Justice Department.

The man names Duke was sentenced to 70 months in prison, and was ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution.

Following a three-week trial in January 2019, Stencil and Duke were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.   In addition, Stencil was found guilty of 13 counts of mail fraud, 13 counts of wire fraud and four counts of money laundering.   Duke was found guilty of three counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, the Justice Department said.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from 2012 through 2016, Stencil, Duke and their co-conspirators sold millions of dollars of worthless stock in a sham company, the same one in which Sierp was involved.

Stencil played the role of the firm’s chief executive officer.  Duke was Stencil’s top salesperson.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the evidence showed that, together, Stencil, Duke and their co-conspirators sold approximately $2.8 million in stock to approximately 140 victims, many of whom were elderly or vulnerable for other reasons.  

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Trial Attorney Christopher Fenton of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.

Individuals who believe that they may be a victim in this case can visit the Fraud Section’s Victim Witness website for more information.



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