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Jeffrey Novis, age 79, of Long Island, Shawn Phillips, age 52, of British Columbia, Canada, and Phillip Priolo, age 58, of Hallandale Beach, Florida have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and multiple counts of mail fraud and wire fraud after operating an elaborate scheme over several years.
An indictment was unsealed in US District Court this week charging the three with running a fraudulent mass-mailing scheme that tricked consumers, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, into paying fees for falsely promised cash prizes.
It is alleged that between June 2013 and November 2016, Phillips ran a mail fraud scheme that mailed hundreds of thousands of prize notices that falsely claimed that victims were specially chosen to receive a large cash prize and would receive the prize if they paid a fee, ranging from approximately $20 to $40.
However, those who participated did not receive any cash prizes.
“Although the notices appeared to be personalized correspondence, they were, in fact, mass-produced, boilerplate documents that were bulk mailed to recipients whose names and addresses were on mailing lists,” prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges that beginning in 2016, Novis opened bank accounts for the purpose of depositing checks mailed by the victims of this scheme, and transmitting the funds to Phillips.
In total, the scheme net them nearly $11 million.
It is further alleged that from March 2015 through December 2016, Novis and Priolo owned and controlled a similar mail-fraud scheme that mailed hundreds of thousands of the same type of fraudulent prize notices. The indictment alleges that during that time, victims paid more than $2.2 million in response to these fraudulent prize notices.
The scheme operated by Novis and Priolo used infrastructure shared by the Phillips scheme, officials noted.
Prosecutors said that all three men conspired on Long Island to facilitate the printing, mailing, and data management for their mail-fraud schemes.
"Elder fraud schemes present a serious threat to the financial security and the well-being of America’s seniors,” acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said. “The Department of Justice will continue to pursue and prosecute the perpetrators of these schemes.”
If convicted, Novis faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
“The defendants in this case allegedly operated a mass-mailing scheme that targeted older Americans — a trend Postal Inspectors, unfortunately, see on a regular basis,” Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the US Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group stated. “Today’s action should serve as a reminder that Postal Inspectors have a long history of protecting consumers, and will always be ready to bring individuals to justice for their crimes against the American public.”
Novis' precise place of residence on Long Island was not immediately released.
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