Telephone Scammer Faces Long Jail Term
Scam artist Kyle Kimoto could get up to 175 years in prison following his conviction last week for wire fraud and other charges. He also faces a $3.5 million fine.
Kimoto’s firm, Assail Inc. bilked 300,000 people out of a total of roughly $43 million in 2001 and 2002, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in East St. Louis, IL. The victims paid fees for credit cards they never received, the office added.
Kimoto was convicted of 12 counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. He was taken into custody upon conviction, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Sentencing is set for Sept. 5.
Another defendant, Peter Porcelli, pleaded guilty last May. He cooperated with the government in the case.
A source said the U.S. Attorney’s investigation is continuing.
The Federal Trade Commission won a $106 million civil judgment in 2006 against Kimoto and the firm. Thirteen individuals and entities were banned from telemarketing for life. (Direct Newsline, Jan. 25, 2005).
Assail obtained “lead lists with names of consumers who had applied for credit and had been turned down,” according to the indictment presented last year. It apparently got these through list brokers.
The firm called these prospects, using company names like First Financial Solutions, First Choice Solutions, Advantage Capital, Capital First and Premier One. It operated through outbound call centers in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and India.
The callers implied that the they were from Visa and MasterCard, or from financial institutions to which the consumer had applied for credit, the indictment continues.
Consumers were told that “nothing looks better on your Equifax credit report than a MasterCard,” the document adds.
The telemarketers also offered “’free’ trials of various services, without adequate disclosure that acceptance of the trials would result in recurring monthly charges to the consumer’s bank accounts,” the indictment states.
Victims paid anywhere from $159 to several hundred dollars for a “processing fee,” but all they received was a benefits package containing an application for a stored-value MasterCard, a form of debit card, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Defense Attorney Robert M. Draskovich argued during the trial that Assail’s scripts did not offer a credit card, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Draskovich continued that Assail fired telemarketers who suggested that consumers would receive credit cards, the Post-Dispatch continued. He also said that Porcelli was the real culprit and that he did things that Kimoto never knew about, the paper reported.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce E. Reppert prosecuted the criminal case. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in St. Louis and the Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation unit in Reno, NV.
