{"id":21334,"date":"2016-03-15T11:23:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T18:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=21334"},"modified":"2016-03-15T11:23:18","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T18:23:18","slug":"call-center-owner-sentenced-nine-years-ripping-off-elderly-sweepstakes-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=21334","title":{"rendered":"Call Center Owner Sentenced to Nine Years for Ripping off Elderly Through Sweepstakes Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 NORTH CAROLINA<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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A federal judge on Monday sentenced a dual U.S.-Costa Rican citizen who was the owner of a Call Center to nine years in prison for his role in a $1.8 million sweepstakes that targeted hundreds of elderly victims.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr<\/strong>. of North Carolina also ordered that\u00a0Geoffrey Alexander Ramer, 36, formerly of Falls Church, Virginia, to pay $2.8 million in restitution and to forfeit $1.8 million, which is the amount Ramer was responsible for causing in losses to the victims.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Sept. 15, 2014, Ramer pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and four counts of international money laundering in connection with the telemarketing fraud scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the plea documents, from 2008 through December 2013, Ramer owned and operated call centers located in Costa Rica.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ramer admitted that he and his co-conspirators called U.S. residents, many of whom were elderly, and falsely informed the victims that they had won a substantial cash prize in a sweepstakes, and that, in order to receive their prize money, the victims were to send money to Costa Rica for a purported refundable insurance fee.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

After receiving the victims\u2019 money, the co-conspirators would contact the victims to falsely inform them that the prize amount had increased and the victims needed to send additional money for more purported fees, Ramer admitted.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the plea, Ramer and his co-conspirators would continue these attempts to collect additional money until the victims went broke or discovered the fraud.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ramer admitted that he and his co-conspirators utilized VoIP phones that displayed a Washington, D.C., area code in order to conceal that they were calling from Costa Rica, and sometimes falsely claim to be from a U.S. federal agency to give victims a false sense of security.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The co-conspirators kept the victims\u2019 funds, never provided any winnings to the victims and used the funds to continue the call centers\u2019 operation and for the co-conspirators\u2019 personal benefit, Ramer admitted.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge on Monday sentenced a dual U.S.-Costa Rican citizen who was the owner of a Call Center to nine years in prison for his role in a $1.8 million sweepstakes that targeted hundreds of elderly victims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[2367,2366,2365],"class_list":["post-21334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-call-center","tag-costa-rica","tag-sweepstakes-scam"],"yoast_head":"\nCall Center Owner Sentenced to Nine Years for Ripping off Elderly Through Sweepstakes Scam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A federal judge on Monday sentenced a dual U.S.-Costa Rican citizen who was the owner of a Call Center to nine years in prison for his role in a $1.8 million sweepstakes that 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