Fraud in the news

Green-card marriage scheme

According to the May 15 ABC News article by Julia Jacobo, “96 people charged in Texas marriage fraud scheme to get Green Cards,” Houston fraudsters are responsible for granting citizenship to Vietnamese nationals who paid hefty fees. Police say ringleader Ashley Yen Nguyen operated a well-organized marriage scam — charging between $50,000 to $70,000 for a marriage license. As a result, nearly 150 people fraudulently obtained green cards to become permanent U.S. residents.

The indictment remains sealed, but according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), organizers of the scam even created fake wedding photo albums to further the guise. The 96 organizers are charged with various counts of mail fraud and stand to serve 20 years in federal prison. 

Ex-beer exec found guilty

After nearly a decade of defrauding one of the largest beer makers in America, a former executive is heading to jail. According to the May 17 FOXBusiness article by Kathleen Joyce, “Ex-MillerCoors vice president sentenced to prison over fraud charges,” David Colletti will spend 42 months in prison. According to the article, Colletti falsified marketing and promotional invoices he billed to his company MillerCoors and pocketed more than $8.6 million. Colletti claimed he was involved in the billing scheme to “keep up with the rat race.” 

N.Y. mail scams steals $30 million from elderly

According to the May 15 Nassau Daily Voice article, “Merrick Man Admits to Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme,” by Zak Failla, elderly victims were scammed out of $30 million throughout the U.S. in hopes of winning handsome cash prizes. According to the article, Shaun Sullivan pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He obtained consumer mailing lists of mostly elderly victims and sent them notices claiming they won large cash prizes — all in exchange for a small fee. However, no prizes were ever granted. Sullivan made more than $30 million off his victims. He’s awaiting sentencing and faces up to 20 years in prison.