"Six Las Vegas, Nevada area residents were charged with running a fraudulent mass-mailing scheme that tricked hundreds of thousands of consumers into paying more than $10 million in fees for falsely promised cash prizes", the release said.
Six Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Elder Fraud Scheme https://t.co/tDe56qfO6y
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) November 14, 2019
The Justice Department explained the indictment charges Mario Castro, 51, Jose Salud Castro, 70, Salvador Castro, 53, Miguel Castro, 55, Jose Luis Mendez, 45 and Andrea Burrow, 49, with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
"[T]he defendants’ prize-notification scheme led victims, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, to believe that they could pay a small $20 or $30 fee to claim a large cash prize. The indictment alleged that none of the victims who submitted fees ever received a large cash prize", the release said.
On Wednesday, US Postal Inspectors arrested five of the defendants and the sixth, Jose Salud Castro, surrendered to law enforcement officials on Thursday morning, the release added.
In 2018, former US congressman Stephen E. Stockman was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison over mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make conduit contributions, filing a false tax return and other charges.
