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$7
million telemarketing scheme
defrauded elderly victims in
the United States from call
centers in Costa Rica.
/ A.M. Costa Rica
wire services photo
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U.S man
found guilty for
role in $11 million
international
telemarketing scheme
linked to Costa Rica
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By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
U.S. Justice Department announced
that an Ohio man, surnamed Dodt,
76 years old, was found guilty
today for his role in an $7
million telemarketing scheme that
primarily defrauded elderly
victims in the United States from
call centers in Costa Rica.
Following a five-day jury trial,
Dodt, originally of Cleveland,
Ohio, was convicted of one count
of conspiracy to commit wire fraud
and mail fraud, two counts of mail
fraud, eight counts of wire fraud,
one count of conspiracy to commit
international money laundering and
ten counts of international money
laundering.
Evidence presented at trial
demonstrated that Dodt worked in a
call center in Costa Rica in which
co-conspirators, who posed as
representatives of the District of
Columbia Department of Consumer
and Regulatory Affairs and federal
agencies, including the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission, and who
also posed as federal judges,
contacted victims in the United
States — primarily senior citizens
– to tell them that that they had
supposedly won a substantial
“sweepstakes” prize.
After convincing victims that they
stood to receive a significant
financial reward, the
co-conspirators told victims that
they needed to make a series of
up-front cash payments before
collecting, purportedly for items
like insurance fees, taxes and
import fees.
Co-conspirators used a variety of
means to conceal their true
identity, such as Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) services
provided by Dodt that made it
appear that they were calling from
Washington, D.C. and other places
in the United States.
As the evidence presented at trial
illustrated, Dodt was an integral
part of this scheme in that he
knowingly provided services that
were necessary for the scheme to
operate and that facilitated the
concealment and, ultimately,
success of the scheme for many
years.
Specifically, Dodt provided and
maintained VoIP phone technology
and assigned phone numbers
associated with locations in the
United States through which
members of the conspiracy were
able to make the fraudulent calls
to victims in the United States
and conceal their identities and
location.
Dodt specifically assigned virtual
phone numbers with area codes
associated with Washington, D.C.,
to make it appear that the calls
originated from within the United
States and that also bolstered
conspirators’ misrepresentations
that they were representatives of
government agencies located in
Washington.
Dodt also warned the
co-conspirators if certain numbers
were “hot” – i.e., there were
customer complaints or law
enforcement inquiries – and
replaced those phone numbers with
new phone numbers that the
co-conspirators then used in
furtherance of the scheme, the
evidence showed.
This case was investigated by the
U.S. Postal Inspection Service,
Internal Revenue Service Criminal
Investigation and the FBI with
assistance from the Federal Trade
Commission and U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland
Security Investigations.
The case is being prosecuted by
Fraud Section Trial Attorneys
William Bowne, Jennifer Farer and
Philip Trout. The U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Western
District of North Carolina
provided substantial assistance
with this matter.
Assistant Attorney General Brian
A. Benczkowski of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division,
U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray of
the Western District of North
Carolina, Inspector in Charge
David M. McGinnis of the U.S.
Postal Inspection Service’s
Charlotte Divison, Acting Special
Agent in Charge William Cheung of
the IRS Criminal Investigation’s
(CI) Cincinnati Field Office,
Special Agent in Charge Matthew D.
Line of the IRS CI Charlotte Field
Office and Special Agent in Charge
John Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte
Field Office made the announcement
on Tuesday.
More information on this case can
be reached at Justice.Gov.*
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Have you ever heard of
telemarketing fraud scheme fraud
involving expats in Costa
Rica? We would like to know
your thoughts on this story.
Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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