In a federal crackdown on fraudulent telemarketing schemes, Michael McDonagh, 43, from Cohasset, Massachusetts, was nailed with a hefty 121-month prison sentence. The former Long Beach resident led a multimillion-dollar scam targeting timeshare owners, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
Operating various shady telemarketing businesses out of Southern California, McDonagh sucked more than $5 million from the pockets of timeshare owners who were searching for a way out. As reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, victims were lured with promises of timeshare relief, and once those owned showed interest, they were hit with a hailstorm of lies.
McDonagh's fraudulent scheme spanned from 2015 to 2019, using a team of "openers" and "closers" to con victims into signing contracts for services they never intended to deliver. According to the sentencing memorandum obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office, McDonagh demonstrated a relentless pursuit of his victims' savings, resulting in some cases in the loss of over $100,000 per individual.
The convict, known for telling his team to take "no prisoners" and show "[n]o remorse," as per a statement by prosecutors, painted fake pictures of settlements and restitution payments to further swindle clients. Riding high off the pain of over 500 victims., McDonagh has now been ordered by United States District Judge David O. Carter to pay $5,469,271 in restitution.
The sting operation that brought down McDonagh's house of cards was a combined effort by the United States Secret Service and the Huntington Beach Police Department. And while McDonagh contemplates his future behind bars, his co-schemers, who have all pleaded guilty to wire fraud, are awaiting their own dates with destiny.
