Federal authorities say they have seized more than $1 million stolen from senior scam victims, now in the form of collectible stamps and other items at a New York auction house, after thwarting a scheme to move the criminal proceeds offshore.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington said Thursday it has filed a Verified Civil Forfeiture Complaint seeking forfeiture of 149 lots of collectible stamps and other items seized from the Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries Inc. of New York. Investigators learned the stamps were purchased with funds stolen from the victims of various frauds, including government impersonation scams and romance scams.
Officials said Siegel Galleries is not accused of any crime.
Once the stamps are forfeited to the federal government, the U.S. Marshals Service will liquidate them, and the funds will be returned to victims.
Investigators have so far identified 28 victims across the country who were misled in fraud schemes that ultimately funneled their money - a total of $1,383,437 - to the gallery. So far, $1,012,300 has been traced back to known victims, and investigators are still working to trace the remaining funds that were deposited toward the purchase of the stamps.
Some victims were called by a person claiming to be from a government entity such as the FBI or SEC, reporting that the victim's bank account or personal identity had been stolen, and directing them to send their funds to a different entity for safe keeping. In some instances, victims were told they had been implicated in a money laundering scheme and to prove their innocence and protect their funds they needed to send them to the account designated by the caller. Victims were told their funds, in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars, would be returned.
Some victims sent cashier's checks directly to the gallery, while other victims were directed to send cashier's checks to another set of victims - those who had been misled by romance scams. Those victims, who were contacted via social media, believed they were assisting a love interest with money from an inheritance, an investment or to pay debts. They were directed to deposit the cashier's checks from the first set of victims, then withdraw the funds and send or wire the money to the gallery.
"Too often when victims have been defrauded in these schemes, their money is gone for good," U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said in a statement. "We are delighted to be able to share good news with these victims and hope to be able to return funds to them through this civil forfeiture action."
No criminal charges have been filed yet, and the FBI is continuing to investigate the case. Prosecutors said potential charges include conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
--with reporting by TMX
