Phone scam involving fake Canadian lottery leads to 6-year prison sentence for U.S. man
By Maggie Parkhill
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TORONTO (CTV Network) — A defendant in a multi-million-dollar cross-border phone scam has been sentenced to six years in U.S. prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said earlier this month that Anthony Laughing, Jr., 49, was convicted in New York of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud with a number of co-defendants, including ringleader Martin Hogan from Montreal.
The attorney’s office says Hogan was extradited from Jamaica to the U.S. and charged for his role in a multi-million dollar telemarketing scheme where elderly American victims were falsely told they had won Canadian lotteries but first had to pay taxes, brokerage fees and custom fees in order to collect their winnings. Hogan has been convicted and awaits sentencing.
Some of the victims of the scheme were told to mail their fees to Laughing, who received more than 300 packages.
According to the attorney’s office, Laughing kept some of the money, with the rest later smuggled over the border into Canada and given to Laughing’s Canadian co-conspirators.
In total, the attorney’s office says, the scheme collected more than US$2,000,000 in funds from victims.
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Sonja Puzicsonja.puzic@bellmedia.ca
