Information for Victims of Large Cases
| Case Name | Familiar Names and Terms | District or Division | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. v. Brandenburger & Davis and Bradley N. Davis | Brandenburger & Davis, Brad Davis, heir location services, estate, descendent, probate | Antitrust Division |
Brandenburger & Davis and Bradley N. Davis were charged with entering into and engaging in a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by agreeing to allocate customers of heir location services sold in the United States, beginning at least as early as November 2003 until at least August 2012. |
| United States v. Charles Hallinan, et al. | USAO - Pennsylvania, Eastern |
Charles Hallinan ran multiple companies that provided short-term loans to tens of thousands of people, including Pennsylvania residents, in exchange for fees that were in gross violation of the usury laws in many states, including Pennsylvania. Hallinan's companies collected on these loans by debiting funds from the bank accounts of his borrowers on their expected paydays, a practice referred to as "payday loans." |
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| United States v. Elliot Phillip Rosenberg | Elliot Phillip Rosenberg, Costa Rica, sweepstakes | Criminal Division |
According to the indictment, beginning in or about 2010, Elliot Phillip Rosenberg owned and managed one or more call centers in Costa Rica engaged in a sweepstakes scheme directed at individuals residing in the United States. Rosenberg and his co-conspirators fraudulently induced victims to pay thousands of dollars by falsely representing that the victims had won valuable prizes. Rosenberg and his co-conspirators continued to call and insist that additional payments be made for new fees until an individual either ran out of money or discovered the fraudulent nature of the scheme. |
| United States v. Gilbert Lundstrom | TierOne, Gilbert Lundstrom | Criminal Division |
Gilbert G. Lundstrom was the CEO of TierOne Bank from 1999 to January 2010. According to allegations in the indictment, he and others concealed the true value of TierOne’s loan and real estate portfolio. They also provided falsely inflated figures in their reporting to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Specifically, Lundstrom and others allegedly used outdated property appraisals and rejected new appraisals that would have required TierOne to mark down the value of its real estate holdings. In addition, Lundstrom and others allegedly delayed seeking new appraisals to conceal the depreciating value of its loan collateral, and restructured loan terms to disguise the borrowers’ inability to make timely interest and principal payments. As a result, Lundstrom and others were allegedly able to hide millions of dollars in losses from regulators and investors. |
| United States v. James A. Laphen | TierOne, James A. Laphen | Criminal Division |
According to court documents, James Laphen and others concealed the true value of TierOne’s loan and real estate portfolio and provided falsely inflated figures in its required reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Specifically, Laphen admitted that he used outdated property appraisals and rejected new appraisals that would have required TierOne to mark down the value of its real estate holdings. In addition, Laphen admitted that he and others delayed seeking new appraisals to conceal the depreciating value of its loan collateral, and restructured loan terms to disguise the borrowers’ inability to make timely interest and principal payments. As a result, Laphen admitted that he and others were able to hide millions of dollars in losses from regulators and investors. |
| United States v. Don Langford | TierOne, Don A. Langford | Criminal Division |
According to court documents, Don Langford and others concealed the true value of TierOne’s loan and real estate portfolio and provided falsely inflated figures in its required reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Specifically, Don Langford admitted that he used outdated property appraisals and rejected new appraisals that would have required TierOne to mark down the value of its real estate holdings. In addition, Langford admitted that he and others delayed seeking new appraisals to conceal the depreciating value of its loan collateral, and restructured loan terms to disguise the borrowers’ inability to make timely interest and principal payments. As a result, Langford admitted that he and others were able to hide millions of dollars in losses from regulators and investors. |
| United States v. Harold Bailey Gallison, II, et al. | Harold Bailey Gallison II, Ann Hiskey, Michael Randles, Roger Coleman, Carl Kruse Sr., Carl Kruse Jr., Frank Zangara, Mark Dresner, Charles Moeller, Warrior Girl Corp., WRGL, Everock Inc., EVRN | Criminal Division |
The indictment alleges that the defendants artificially “pumped” or inflated the trading volume and price of the securities by touting business activities and deceptive revenue forecasts, and by engaging in coordinated trading activity to create the appearance of increasing market demand. The defendants then allegedly “dumped” or sold the securities at the inflated prices and laundered the proceeds from their scheme through bank accounts in the United States and overseas. |
| United States v. Anthony B. Brandel, et al. | Anthony B. Brandel, Joseph Micelli, James Warras, Sean Finn, Martin Schlaepfer, Hans-Jurg Lips, Malom Group AG | Criminal Division |
Between approximately October 2009 through October 2013, the defendants used a Swiss corporation known as Malom Group AG to promote investments in European equities and debt offerings, which they said would yield high rates of return. The indictment alleges that the defendants created and provided to investors fake bank statements representing that Malom Group AG had large deposit balances at prominent European banks. The defendants collected payments of between $200,000 and $1.2 million per investor but did not put the funds toward the advertised investments. Instead, the defendants used the money for their own purposes. |
| United States v. Jeffrey Robert Bonner et al. | Jeffrey Robert Bonner, Nicholas Dover, Keith Forbes, Michael Forbes, Michael Miller, Ashley Clark and William Forbes, Cody Trevor Burgsteiner, Clinton Barnes, Everette Jones, Darra Lee Shephard, Nora Southerland, Donna Ramirez, sweepstakes, Costa Rica | Criminal Division |
Jeffrey Robert Bonner owned and operated “call centers”, located in San Jose, Costa Rica, which he and his co-defendants used to defraud United States residents, typically over the age of 55, by deceiving them into believing that they had won prizes in a “sweepstakes contest.” The indictment alleges that Jeffrey Robert Bonner, Cody Trevor Burgsteiner, Darra Lee Shephard, and their co-conspirators made calls to victims from Costa Rica. Victims were informed that to receive their “prize,” they were to wire, via Western Union, thousands of dollars for a purported “refundable insurance fee” to a so-called “insurance entity” in Costa Rica. When victims questioned the legitimacy of the operation, they were given phone numbers purportedly to United States government agents who falsely reassured the victims that they had, in fact, won a sweepstakes prize. The co-conspirators then allegedly continued to solicit victims to send more money until their victims’ funds were depleted. |
| U.S. v. Richard A. Blake, Jr. | Rick Blake, heir location services, estate, descendent, probate | Antitrust Division |
Richard A. Blake, Jr. was charged with engaging in a conspiracy to allocate customers of heir location services sold in the United States from approximately 1999 until January 29, 2014, which affected the prices of these services. |