Six Charged In Multi-Million Dollar Elder Fraud Scheme

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – 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 Department of Justice has announced.

The unsealed 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. The indictment, secured by the Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, also charges Salvador Castro with making a false statement to investigators. U.S. Postal Inspectors arrested five of the defendants last night. The sixth, Jose Salud Castro, turned himself into authorities this morning.

According to the indictment, the 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 Department will pursue and prosecute those who defraud elderly or vulnerable consumers,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “We have alleged that these defendants perpetrated a cruel hoax on their victims and relentlessly targeted many with repeated fraudulent mailings.”

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nv/pr/six-charged-multi-million-dollar-elder-fraud-scheme