Permanent Injunctions Shutting Down Defendants Responsible for Multi-Million Dollar Mail Fraud Schem

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/district-court-enters-permanent-injunctions-shutting-down-two-groups-international

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 22, 2017

District Court Enters Permanent Injunctions Shutting Down Two Groups of International Defendants Responsible for Multi-Million Dollar Mail Fraud Schemes

Defendants Allegedly Scammed Elderly Victims

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered four consent decrees in two civil actions, permanently barring 14 individuals and entities from operating alleged multi-million dollar international mail-fraud schemes. The defendants, located around the globe, include: Swiss corporation BDK Mailing GmbH; Singapore companies Mailing Force Pte. Ltd. and Only Three Pte. Ltd; Chantal Seguy of France; Marion Elchlepp of France; Aurora Jouffroy-Brandtner of Switzerland; U.S. corporation Macromark Inc.; Macromark employee Mary Ellen Meyer; Indian corporation Mail Order Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. (MOSI), and MOSI’s owners, Dharti B. Desai of New York, New York, and Mehul A. Desai of India; and Ercan Barka, a resident of Turkey and New Jersey, Ryan Young of New Jersey, and True Vision LLC, a Delaware-based corporation.

Both schemes followed a similar pattern, involving a complicated web of actors located across the world. Fraudulent “direct mailers” created letters falsely claiming that the recipient has won, or will soon win, cash or valuable prizes, or otherwise will come into good fortune. In order to collect these benefits, the letters say that the recipients need only send in a small amount of money for a processing fee. The letters appeared to come from legitimate sources, typically on official-looking letterhead, but were in fact fictitious individuals and organizations including “Baroness de Rothman,” “DNF Funds Office,” “Finkelstein & Partner,” the “Harrison Institute,” and Marie de Fortune. Moreover, even though the solicitations are in reality identical form letters sent to thousands or tens of thousands of recipients – the letters appear to be personally addressed.
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The first case, in which consent decrees were entered on November 21, 2017, alleges that the defendants’ fraud scheme victimized hundreds of thousands of Americans and targeted primarily the elderly and vulnerable. According to the complaint, the victims sent the defendants payments totaling $50 to $60 million annually between 2005 and 2016.

The consent decrees entered yesterday resolve the litigation. As part of the consent decrees, defendants BDK Mailing GmbH, Mailing Force Pte. Ltd. and Only Three Pte. Ltd. (collectively BDK) admit that they acted as “direct mailers” responsible for mailing millions of advertisements, solicitations, or promotional materials on behalf of dozens of fictitious psychics, sweepstakes, lotteries, and other wealth-building programs (collectively “covered direct mailings”) to hundreds of thousands of potential victims throughout the United States each year between 2005 and 2016. BDK further admits that the solicitations falsely promised that recipients would receive large sums of money, and guaranteed money-making methods or powerful talismans in return for payment of $50 to $55. In reality, however, the purported senders and the promised winnings were fictitious. Although victims sent requested payments by cash, check, and credit card, they received nothing in return. Defendants Macromark, Inc. and Mary Ellen Meyer do not dispute that they facilitated BDK’s rental of numerous “customer lists” containing hundreds of thousands of consumer names used for BDK’s direct mailing campaigns. Defendant Mail Order Solutions Inc., in turn, printed millions of copies of BDK’s covered direct mailings and delivered them via air cargo and international post into the United States for delivery to unwitting U.S. consumers.

The second case, in which consent decrees were entered on October 5, names defendants Barka, Young, and True Vision LLC. The United States’ amended complaint, filed in May 2017, alleges that Barka and Young worked together as “direct mailers,” sending fraudulent solicitations to hundreds of thousands of American victims through an international web of shell companies. The complaint alleges that Barka and Young’s mailings informed recipients that they had won prizes including millions of dollars in cash and luxury cars, and that recipients would receive delivery of the prizes upon payment of a fee. Victims allegedly received nothing in return for their payments, while Young and Barka collected an estimated $29 million from American victims from 2012 through 2016.
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[Historic NY]

1. Nice touch Finkelstein & Partner,

they are a large firm of personal injury attorneys.