Recently in Fraud / White Collar Crimes Category

Authorities report that Donald Lapre, the disgraced Phoenix-based vitamin seller and alleged fraud, was found dead in his Florence prison cell on Sunday, reports The Arizona Republic. Lapre has been in federal custody since July on multiple charges of fraud, money-laundering and conspiracy stemming from his heavily-promoted business, the Greatest Vitamin in the World.

The pill pitchman and alleged fraudster faced 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, promotional money laundering and transactional money laundering. Lapre allegedly cheated hundreds of thousands of consumers and investors out of hefty commission checks that were promised in exchange for investing in his products.

Don’t leave purses or handbags in plain view inside of unattended vehicles. Not only is this an easy way for a purse to be stolen, but it’s also a way that many people in the East Valley become victims of identity theft.

According to ABC News, at least 90 people have been confirmed to be victims of identity theft over the last several months in the area. Chandler police are now investigating an East Valley identity theft ring. The investigation reportedly began in December 2010, when people reported that there purses were stolen from their vehicles in daycare parking lots and city parks throughout Chandler. Within days, the Chandler theft victims apparently noticed inconsistencies with their checking accounts and credit cards accounts.

Tong-Seng Luy, the owner of a Yuma doughnut shop, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for failing to pay overtime wages to some of his employees, according to The Yuma Sun. A business owner will not typically face criminal charges after failing to pay wages, but in this case Luy has been accused of falsely reporting to the U.S. Department of Labor that all of his employees had been paid the total amount of back wages that were agreed upon.

Luy allegedly promised to pay $27,000 in back wages to eight employees, but then withheld the money over a two-year period. Now, the owner of Arizona Donut faces 10 counts of concealment by trick, making false statements to the U.S. Department of Labor and willful failure to pay overtime.

Perhaps former representative John Kromko should have never been able to run for office in the 2008 election. The man who once served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 1976 to 1990 admitted that he forged 29 names on a petition that may have qualified him to run for the House seat in 2008. Now at the age of 70, The Arizona Daily Star reports that Kromko will not be able to run for public office for at least five years because of the plea agreement that was made in the case.

Kromko initially faced several felony charges over the incident, which included identity theft, forgery and fraud. Yet a plea agreement allowed the politician to plead guilty to just one misdemeanor count of forgery and one felony count of fraud. The fraud conviction will be knocked down to a misdemeanor conviction upon the completion of probation.

It is certainly more difficult to get away with using counterfeit money these days compared to several decades ago. Yet people across the state of Arizona will still occasionally use invalid bills to make a purchase.

The Arizona Republic reports that Mesa police officers recently arrested 56-year-old Maribeth Kona after she allegedly used counterfeit bills to pay for items at local garage sales. The fake bills apparently did not contain the security features of a genuine bill, such as a security strip, watermark or security threads.

FOX News reports that Steven W. Allen used to work as a Mesa attorney, but was convicted of tax fraud and will now spend almost four years in prison for the offense. Prosecutors said that Steven Allen helped his clients evade their taxes by promoting and selling a fraudulent scheme that involved setting up bogus foreign trusts to hide his clients' income.

Identity theft is perhaps one of the scariest crimes for consumers, because it can happen to anybody when they least expect it. Perhaps it's good to know that a person can face harsh penalties for an identity theft conviction in the state of Arizona, especially when there are five or more victims involved in an identity theft case.

Associated Press reported that a 56-year-old woman from Tucson was recently sentenced to 48 months in prison for stealing another person's identity. Mary Helen Romero pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft last summer after she was caught in fraud schemes that lasted from March 2009 to June 2009.

Many senior citizens in Arizona might be familiar with the suspicious activity of SCOPE Payee Services in Tucson. The Arizona Daily Star reported that the company has been accused of criminal activity by allegedly defrauding over 750 elderly and disabled people while operating a representative payee business. Federal prosecutors say that the fraud scam cost some elderly people in Tucson $1.3 million.

A man has been accused of scamming several businesses in the Valley, including nine businesses in the city of Mesa. Police, who say that Michael Sprouse collected about $1,622 from East Valley businesses in a scam, arrested the 41-year-old on suspicion of fraudulent schemes last week.

The East Valley Tribune reports that victims of the scam included In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Mesa, a Ruth Chris Steakhouse in Scottsdale, and an Edible Arrangements in Tempe. Michael Spouse would allegedly call these businesses and pretend to be a corporate employee or legal consultant of the company. He would then give a story of how his niece or nephew had a car break down in Mesa and would ask the business to deliver between $60 and $207 for a towing bill, claiming that he would pay back the money the next day.

Many people in the Nogales community may have been surprised to find out the Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel left City Hall in handcuffs yesterday. The Arizona Republic reports that FBI agents arrested the 29-year-old city official on bribery and bank fraud allegations.

Federal authorities report that Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel solicited Nogales businesses to hire him as a consultant with the promise of using his official position to secure city contracts without going through a competitive bid process. One person admitted to paying the mayor a $2,000 bribe.