Information for Victims in Large Cases

Four defendants were charged with the hacking of several mail service providers including Yahoo, Google and Yandex (Russian based server) on behalf of the Russian Federal Security Service, a/k/a the “FSB.. Defendants were also successful in obtaining user login information through spear phishing techniques.

Justin Cain was a postal employee in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was suspected of stealing mail from the post office after he sold a stolen baseball card to a local vender. On October 18, 2013, federal agents made a controlled purchase of 23 purported gift cards from Cain. Three days later, on October 21, 2013, Cain was arrested by officers from the La Crosse Police Department with mail in his vehicle. During an interview with law enforcement officers, Cain admitted to stealing mail in order to feed his heroin addiction. Cain told investigators the stolen mail pieces were burned after items of value where removed.

Troy Barnes and Kristi Johnson operated a fraudulent Pyramid/Ponzi scheme through Work With Troy BARNES, Inc. (WWTB), an entity they founded and which did business as “The Achieve Community” (TAC).  They enticed victim-investors to buy “positions” and earn returns of 700 percent,  generating more than $6.8 million. Victims bought $50 “positions” and were to receive $400 in return for each $50 position.  Success depended on new investors to “retire” early investors positions.

William B. Aossey was convicted by a federal jury of conspiring between about 2007 and 2010 to commit mail and wire fraud, sell misbranded meat, and related crimes.  Aossey was also convicted of seven counts of making materially false statements on export certificates, and seven counts of wire fraud.  In a related case, Midamar Corporation; Islamic Services of America; ISA, Inc.; and Jalel Aossey, pleaded guilty to conspiring between about 2007 and 2012 to commit mail and wire fraud, sell misbranded meat, and related crimes.  Defendant Yahya Nasser Aossey pleaded guilty to two lesser counts relating to his responsibility for the sale of misbranded meat as a responsible corporate official.

An indictment charging a market manipulation scheme was unsealed today against six defendants in connection with the trading of stock in Super Nova Resources, Inc. (“SNRR”), announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.  Charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and securities fraud are: Carl Marciniak, 50, of California, Jeffrey Weinfurter, 46, of Yorba Linda, CA, James Wheeler, 54, of Corona, CA, Daniel Starczewski, 67, of Cornelius, NC, Danny Colon, 46, of Edgewater, NJ, and Louis Buonocore, 59, of Woburn, MA.  According to the indictment, the defendants ran the scheme with the intent to cause approximately $150 million in losses to participants in the over-the-counter U.S. securities market.

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.

Between November 2012 and May 2013, MALCOLM, BRANTLEY, ROSS and others conspired to file false federal income tax returns in the names of individuals without the individuals’ knowledge. As part of the scheme, BRANTLEY, ROSS and others advertised to victims that they were eligible for “Obama stimulus money” or “government funding” through a prepaid debit card, and then obtained personal identifying information from the victims. MALCOLM, who operated a business in Arizona called “Biggest Refund Taxes,” used the victims’ names, dates of birth, and Social Security Numbers to prepare and file false federal income tax returns. MALCOLM then directed tax refunds totaling more than $2.5 million to be deposited partially into bank accounts controlled by MALCOLM, her family members, her employees, and ROSS, and partially into bank accounts linked to prepaid debit cards that were sent to the victims.

Pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott has agreed to plead guilty to health care fraud and pay $125 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of various drugs. A portion of the illegal conduct related to the manipulation of “prior authorizations” for the osteoporosis medications Actonel® and Atelvia®. Insurance companies who paid for Actonel® and/or Atelvia®, or individuals who paid co-payments for these drugs, based on manipulated prior authorizations between June 2010 and February 2012, may be eligible for restitution.  Potentially affected insurance companies and individuals have until March 31, 2016 to submit the restitution claim form.

Beginning in and around October 25, 2014, and continuing through on or about April 26, 2015, the defendants stole mail which included checks. The defendants then attempted to cash stolen checks.  This was accomplished through the production of counterfeit mail keys which enabled them to gain access. The purpose of this crime was for the conspirators to enrich and support themselves and their methamphetamine use.

William B. Aossey was convicted by a federal jury of conspiring between around 2007 and 2010 to commit mail and wire fraud, sell misbranded meat, and related crimes.  Aossey was also convicted of seven counts of making materially false statements on export certificates, and seven counts of wire fraud.

William M. Apostelos and Connie M. Apostelos, along with others, purported to manage multiple investment/asset management companies within the Dayton, Ohio metropolitan area. Hundreds of individuals were fraudulently induced to collectively invest $70 million.  Investors were falsely informed their funds would acquire stocks or securities such as through Ameritrade Stock Accounts, Land Deals, Short Term Bridge/Money Loans, Precious Metal Purchases, 401K Management, and/or to charter a bank.  W.M. Apostelos purported to hold a mathematics degree from Wright State University and a license to sell securities.  Investor funds were used to operate Coleman Capital and Silver Bridle - both owned by C.M. Apostelos, to supplement their household expenses and to further the ‘Ponzi’ scheme.  Investors lost collectively over $30 million.

Eight individuals, including Kristopher Lee Dallmann and Darryl Julius Polo, have been charged with conspiring to violate federal criminal copyright law by running an entity called Jetflicks, an online, subscription-based service headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, that permitted users to stream and, at times, download copyrighted television programs without the permission of the relevant copyright owners. According to the indictment, the defendants reproduced tens of thousands of copyrighted television episodes without authorization and made these infringing programs available to tens of thousands of paid subscribers located throughout the U.S. At one point, Jetflicks claimed to have more than 183,200 different television episodes. One of the defendants, Polo, left Jetflicks and created a competing site based in Las Vegas called iStreamItAll (ISIA) that at one point claimed to have 118,479 different television episodes and 10,980 individual movies. Like Jetflicks, ISIA offered content for a regular subscription fee to viewers around the United States, and ISIA publicly asserted that it had more content than Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and Amazon Prime. In addition, the two services were not only available to subscribers over the internet but specifically designed to work on many different types of devices, platforms and software including numerous varieties of computer operating systems, smartphones, tablets, smart televisions, video game consoles, digital media players, set-top boxes and web browsers. 

Both Jetflicks and ISIA allegedly obtained infringing works from pirate websites around the world—including some of the globe’s biggest torrent and Usenet sites specializing in unauthorized content such as The Pirate Bay, RARBG, and TorrentDay—using automated computer scripts to locate, download, process, and store the illegal files, and then quickly make that content available on servers in Canada to United States subscribers for streaming and/or downloading. Essentially, Jetflicks and ISIA were two of the largest streaming services in the United States but did not compensate copyright owners for streaming and making available for download the unauthorized works they offered to their paid subscribers.

Besides the conspiracy charge, Dallmann has been charged with additional counts of criminal copyright infringement as well as money laundering in connection with Jetflicks, and Polo faces similar additional charges in connection with ISIA. More information can be found in the DOJ press release.