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Published on
Thursday, October 17, 2024
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services
A federal jury in the U.S. State of North Carolina convicted a man surnamed Rogers (40) for his role in orchestrating a years-long telemarketing scheme that defrauded victims in the United States from a call center in Costa Rica. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Rogers led a fraudulent telemarketing scheme in which co-conspirators, who falsely posed as U.S. government officials, contacted victims in the United States to tell them that that they had won a substantial “sweepstakes” prize. After convincing victims, many of whom were elderly, that they stood to receive a significant financial prize, the co-conspirators told victims that they needed to make a series of up-front payments before collecting their supposed prize, purportedly for items such as taxes, customs duties, and other fees. Co-conspirators used a variety of means to conceal their true identities, including Voice over Internet Protocol technology, which made it appear as though they were calling from Washington, D.C., and other locations in the United States. Rogers personally called victims from Costa Rica, using fake names and documents to trick the victims into believing they had won a sweepstakes prize. He also recruited and directed co-conspirators to mislead victims on the phone and to transmit victims’ payments from the United States to Costa Rica. The evidence at trial showed that Rogers and his co-conspirators stole over $4 million from victims. Rogers was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of international money laundering. The defendant faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison on each of the conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and the wire fraud counts, because the jury found that these counts involved telemarketing that victimized at least 10 people over the age of 55, and 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering counts.
Sentencing
will occur at a later date. A
federal district court judge will
determine any sentence after considering
the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other
statutory factors.
Principal
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole
M. Argentieri, head of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division; U.S.
Attorney Dena J. King for the Western
District of North Carolina; Inspector in
Charge Tommy Coke of the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service (USPIS) Atlanta
Division; Special Agent in Charge Karen
Wingerd of the IRS Criminal Investigation
(IRS-CI) Cincinnati Field Office; and
Special Agent in Charge Robert DeWitt of
the FBI Charlotte Field Office made the
announcement.
The
USPIS Atlanta Division, IRS-CI Cincinnati
Field Office, and FBI Charlotte Field
Office investigated the case.
The La
Grande, Oregon Police Department, and
Union County District Attorney Victim
Assistance Office provided valuable
assistance.
The
Justice Department’s Office of
International Affairs worked with law
enforcement partners in Costa Rica to
secure Roger’s arrest and extradition.
Trial
Attorneys Andrew Jaco and Amanda Fretto
Lingwood of the Criminal Division’s Fraud
Section are prosecuting the case.
If
you or someone you know is age 60 or older
and has been a victim of financial fraud,
help is standing by at the National Elder
Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11
(1-833-372-8311).
This
U.S. Department of Justice hotline,
managed by the Office for Victims of
Crime, is staffed by experienced
professionals who provide personalized
support to callers by assessing the needs
of the victim and identifying relevant
next steps.
Case
managers will identify appropriate
reporting agencies, provide information to
callers to assist them in reporting,
connect callers directly with appropriate
agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on
a case-by-case basis.
Reporting
is the first step.
Reporting can
help authorities identify those who commit
fraud, and reporting certain financial
losses due to fraud as soon as possible
can increase the likelihood of recovering
losses.
The
hotline is staffed
7 days
a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET.
English,
Spanish and other languages are available.
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