{"id":53544,"date":"2023-07-11T18:19:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T01:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53544"},"modified":"2023-07-11T18:19:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T01:19:59","slug":"alleged-scammers-indicted-for-targeting-elderly-for-over-4-5-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53544","title":{"rendered":"Alleged Scammers Indicted for Targeting Elderly for Over $4.5 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"hacker,A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a West Los Angeles man who allegedly ran a decade-long telemarketing scam primarily targeting elderly victims that fraudulently obtained more than $4.5 million, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The scammers made false promises to help victims sell or rent their timeshare properties.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Alexai Dragunov, 44, whose aliases include \u201cMichael Anthony Farole,\u201d \u201cMichael LeFleur,\u201d \u201cVictor Romano,\u201d and \u201cJames Logan,\u201d is charged in the 10-count indictment along with Christopher Michael Lang, 42, of Hays, Kansas, whose aliases include \u201cScott Graham,\u201d \u201cDon Lewis,\u201d and \u201cJack Morgan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"\" Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and email marketing targeting the elderly. <\/span><\/p>\n

The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dragunov was arrested on a federal criminal complaint in this matter on June 28 and was ordered jailed without bond. <\/span><\/p>\n

He is scheduled to be arraigned July 18.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lang was arrested in Kansas on June 28.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to the indictment, from August 2013 to June 2023, Dragunov and Lang purported to represent companies that provided advertising and other services to current or former timeshare owners. <\/span><\/p>\n

The companies included Premier Marketing LLC, CML Marketing Specialists Inc., Condo Rental Associates LLC, and Paramount Media LLC.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dragunov and Lang allegedly contacted victims, many of whom were elderly. The defendants used Skype messaging service phone numbers and used aliases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Victims allegedly were induced to enter into agreements with the defendants\u2019 telemarketing companies \u2013 agreements that were formalized in documents that were faxed or sent electronically \u2013 by falsely representing that the telemarketing companies would assist the victims with selling or renting their timeshare properties for a \u201cone time\u201d advertising fee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the recurring fees that each victim paid, often reaching the hundreds of thousands over several years, no victim received the timeshare-related services or proceeds promised, the indictment alleges.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \"\"\u00a0 Dragunov and Lang allegedly told their victims that the requested fees would be refunded or reimbursed to the victims upon completion of the sale or rental of the victims\u2019 timeshare. Also, the victims still owed taxes on the timeshare properties, and if the victims tried to dispute their payments to the telemarketing companies, the victims would automatically lose their disputes and lose all funds paid and any proceeds from a sale or rental of their timeshares.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Dragunov and Lang pretended to be the companies’ customers to create the false impression that the telemarketing companies were legitimate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"black<\/a>According to the indictment, they engaged in hundreds of phony small transactions with the companies\u2019 payment processing accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dragunov and Lang also allegedly concealed material facts from the victims, including the fact that their money was being used to enrich themselves personally.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Dragunov and Lang face 30 years in federal prison for each count if convicted of all charges.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES\u00a0 A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a West Los Angeles man who allegedly ran a decade-long telemarketing scam primarily targeting elderly victims that fraudulently obtained more than $4.5 million,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAlleged Scammers Indicted for Targeting Elderly for Over $4.5 Million<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LOS ANGELES\u00a0 A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a West Los Angeles man who allegedly ran a decade-long telemarketing scam primarily targeting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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