Seven individuals involved in a transnational telemarketing fraud that stole over $12 million from mostly elderly victims were sentenced in a Brooklyn federal court. Yveler Marcellus received 70 months in prison, Felix Marcial, Asheem Henry, George Mims, Rahmel Thompson, and Daquan Mitchell were sentenced to 30–66 months, and Tatiana Williams received a year and a day, with nearly $12.5 million in restitution ordered and assets forfeited, including Marcellus’s $185,000, Marcial’s $700,000, and Williams’s $229,000 bank account plus $60,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"Today's punishment was certainly warranted for the defendants who caused tremendous harm to the victims, many of whom were elderly or otherwise vulnerable," stated U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. The scheme involved victims sending checks and money orders under false pretenses, with the defendants laundering the money through multiple accounts to evade detection, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Between January 2022 and December 2023, defendants worked with co-conspirators in India to deceive victims and take their money. USPIS Inspector in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward said, "These criminals selfishly preyed on vulnerable victims to enrich their lifestyles; but they underestimated the resolve of the United States Postal Inspection Service to continue to investigate this case until every complicit person was held accountable," as stated by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Elias Laris, Molly Delaney, and David Berman, with Tanisha Payne handling forfeiture matters.
