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Long Island resident Carmine Maietta, of Westbury, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud on Wednesday, Jan. 26, according to Breon Peace, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
From November 2013 through November 2018, Maietta was part of a scheme to mail false prize notifications to thousands of people, urging them to pay a fee in return for a large cash prize, Peace said.
None of the consumers who paid the fee received a prize, according to the announcement.
Peace said the United States Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, and four others previously pleaded guilty to the same charge for their roles in the scheme.
They were identified as:
- Steven Diaz, age 53, of Mount Sinai, New York
- Anthony Kafeiti, age 61, of Port Jefferson, New York
- Charles Kafeiti, age 58, of Scottsdale, Arizona
- Drew Wilson, age 63, of British Columbia, Canada
“With today’s guilty plea, Maietta admits to deceiving elderly and other vulnerable victims into believing they had won cash prizes when, in reality, he was simply pocketing their hard-earned funds,” Peace said. “This Office is committed to protecting the vulnerable from the financial harm caused by fraudulent mail solicitation schemes.”
The US Attorney's Office said help related to financial fraud committed against senior citizens can be found by calling the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311.
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