Information for Victims in Large Cases
United States v. Harold Bailey Gallison, II, et al.
United States v. Elliot Phillip Rosenberg
According to the indictment, beginning in or about 2010, Elliot Phillip Rosenberg owned and managed one or more call centers in Costa Rica engaged in a sweepstakes scheme directed at individuals residing in the United States. Rosenberg and his co-conspirators fraudulently induced victims to pay thousands of dollars by falsely representing that the victims had won valuable prizes. Rosenberg and his co-conspirators continued to call and insist that additional payments be made for new fees until an individual either ran out of money or discovered the fraudulent nature of the scheme.
U.S. v. Obozokhae
From February 2005 through October 2007, the defendant operated Smoke Shop and Accessories which conducted money transfer transactions. Counterfeit checks were mailed to individuals who were advised to cash and wire a portion of the proceeds to a third party. The wired monies were then intercepted and used for the defendant’s personal use.
U.S. v. Jeffrey K. Skilling
United States v. Robert Allen Stanford et al.
United States v. John Raffle and David Applegate
United States v. Jeffrey Robert Bonner et al.
Jeffrey Robert Bonner owned and operated “call centers”, located in San Jose, Costa Rica, which he and his co-defendants used to defraud United States residents, typically over the age of 55, by deceiving them into believing that they had won prizes in a “sweepstakes contest.” The indictment alleges that Jeffrey Robert Bonner, Cody Trevor Burgsteiner, Darra Lee Shephard, and their co-conspirators made calls to victims from Costa Rica. Victims were informed that to receive their “prize,” they were to wire, via Western Union, thousands of dollars for a purported “refundable insurance fee” to a so-called “insurance entity” in Costa Rica. When victims questioned the legitimacy of the operation, they were given phone numbers purportedly to United States government agents who falsely reassured the victims that they had, in fact, won a sweepstakes prize. The co-conspirators then allegedly continued to solicit victims to send more money until their victims’ funds were depleted.
United States v. Anthony B. Brandel, et al.
Between approximately October 2009 through October 2013, the defendants used a Swiss corporation known as Malom Group AG to promote investments in European equities and debt offerings, which they said would yield high rates of return. The indictment alleges that the defendants created and provided to investors fake bank statements representing that Malom Group AG had large deposit balances at prominent European banks. The defendants collected payments of between $200,000 and $1.2 million per investor but did not put the funds toward the advertised investments. Instead, the defendants used the money for their own purposes.
United States v. Don Langford
According to court documents, Don Langford and others concealed the true value of TierOne’s loan and real estate portfolio and provided falsely inflated figures in its required reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Specifically, Don Langford admitted that he used outdated property appraisals and rejected new appraisals that would have required TierOne to mark down the value of its real estate holdings. In addition, Langford admitted that he and others delayed seeking new appraisals to conceal the depreciating value of its loan collateral, and restructured loan terms to disguise the borrowers’ inability to make timely interest and principal payments. As a result, Langford admitted that he and others were able to hide millions of dollars in losses from regulators and investors.
United States v. James A. Laphen
United States v. Gilbert Lundstrom
Gilbert G. Lundstrom was the CEO of TierOne Bank from 1999 to January 2010. According to allegations in the indictment, he and others concealed the true value of TierOne’s loan and real estate portfolio. They also provided falsely inflated figures in their reporting to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Specifically, Lundstrom and others allegedly used outdated property appraisals and rejected new appraisals that would have required TierOne to mark down the value of its real estate holdings. In addition, Lundstrom and others allegedly delayed seeking new appraisals to conceal the depreciating value of its loan collateral, and restructured loan terms to disguise the borrowers’ inability to make timely interest and principal payments. As a result, Lundstrom and others were allegedly able to hide millions of dollars in losses from regulators and investors.