A federal indictment unsealed this week in Pennsylvania describes a machine with two mouths: one that whispered love to lonely people online, and one that spoke in the voice of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Both mouths ate from the same plate.
Federal prosecutors say six defendants ran a Publishers Clearing House impersonation scheme out of Florida and Virginia, calling elderly Americans, telling them they had won millions, and collecting the "fees" by mail. The indictment landed June 2. The arrests followed within a week.
Federal prosecutors in Davenport say Chad Boal and Corey Richards ran a Ponzi scheme out of Burlington called the Golden Bar Foundation. The pitch was risk-free returns. The proof, allegedly, was parked in the driveway.
Federal prosecutors say Ashley Brown and Amanda Brown Lundquist ran a two-year gift card and identity theft scheme across three Western Washington counties. The mechanism was small. The pattern is not.
David Vernon Lott told investors his Missouri Holding Group could turn one dollar into ten. A federal grand jury says the dollars went into a roof over his own head, and then into twelve careful slices when the roof was sold.