Canadian Telemarketer gets Prison

This was posted Feb. 8th in the FTC website. I am not sure this is the correct place to post it or not. I am sure admin can move it if it is not.

Canadian Telemarketer Previously Sued by FTC Gets Nine-Year Prison Sentence in Subsequent Criminal Case Filed by U.S. Attorney

For Your Information: 02/08/2011
Canadian Telemarketer Previously Sued by FTC Gets Nine-Year Prison Sentence in Subsequent Criminal Case Filed by U.S. Attorney
A federal judge has imposed a nine-year prison sentence on a Canada-based con artist who was charged by the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California with defrauding elderly consumers using phony claims about non-existent prizes and investments. In the sentencing hearing, the judge called the scheme “cold, calculating, callous behavior.”

In addition to imposing the prison sentence, the judge ordered the defendant, John Raymond Bezeredi, to pay $4.6 million in restitution for the 4,500 consumers he defrauded.

The U.S. Attorney’s criminal case followed a civil lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission. In 2007, the FTC obtained a court order against Bezeredi requiring him to pay $4.76 million for consumer redress and barring him from fraudulent telemarketing. The FTC’s Criminal Liaison Unit, a special branch of the agency set up to ensure that appropriate consumer scams are referred for criminal prosecution, then sent the case to the U.S. Attorney for criminal prosecution. In September 2009, Bezeredi pleaded guilty to one criminal count of mail fraud and admitted that he had targeted elderly victims with the telemarketing scheme.

The FTC would like to thank the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California for its work in successfully prosecuting this matter. The FTC brought its civil case with the cooperation of Project Emptor, a cross-border law enforcement collaborative, Consumer Protection BC, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Competition Bureau, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (FTC File No. 042-3152; see press release dated April 9, 2007.)

That's really good news isn't it? Thanks for posting this HM. I hope that the people still living whom he bilked, get their funds back. Sadly, many of them have already died. That part really bothers me. The worst thing about all of this, is that he specifically targeted the eldery. This slime ball guaranteed them that their investments were safe and secure and that they were buying bonds, which was all a lie. There were no bonds. He's sort of a small time Bernie Madoff. Then he further lead them to believe that that after buying the bonds, they would be entered into monthly drawings and that they were likely to receive substantial cash winnings or receive regular cash payments. Of course that never happened either. On top of that, these poor people were charged various "fees". I am going to steal your money, lie to you and also charge you a fee for this! WTH!!! I would have liked to have seen him get even more jail time, frankly. He destroyed many people's lives with this scam. Nine years seems kinda paltry to me.

Agree with you about the 9 year sentence ALA. 90 might have been more realistic in relation to the damage he has done.

What is reassuring though is that a Canadian based operator has been nailed in the US. Canada, along with other "offshore" places has always been a safe hideout for scammers. Maybe this will finally start to draw to a close.

More prosecutions cross border can only be a good thing.

Well, I agree with both of you and that 9 years is not enough behind bars. Yet, I am also glad he will be locked up and hopefully cannot make anymore money from unsuspecting people. So sad that people can get caught up in these schemes.