Towson Woman Sentenced to Eight Years in Federal Prison for Obtaining More Than $4.3 Million in an

[TexasTowelie]

Towson Woman Sentenced to Eight Years in Federal Prison for Obtaining More Than $4.3 Million in an Advance Fee Fraud Scheme and for Evading Taxes


Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett today sentenced Lauren Montillo, age 47, of Towson, Maryland, to eight years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for tax evasion. Judge Bennett also ordered Montillo to pay restitution of $4,060,284.79 to the victims of the scheme, and $276,240 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Montillo admitted that from 2010 through 2015, she and her co-conspirators sought at least $8.7 million in advance fees from foreign and United States victims, purporting to offer access to exotic bank financial instruments. Victims paid $4,342,540 in advance fees into Hong Kong bank accounts or attorney escrow accounts and received nothing in return. For tax years 2012 through 2014, Montillo reported no income other than $100, evading a substantial amount of income taxes.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jennifer L. Moore of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Kelly R. Jackson of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office.

According to her plea agreement and other court documents, Montillo and her co-conspirators created shell companies, with associated websites, email addresses, and bank accounts, which they used to perpetrate the fraud. Specifically, in February 2010, Montillo opened an account with GoDaddy, which provides web-hosting services. From 2010 to 2015, Montillo and other co-conspirators used GoDaddy to host websites for shell companies such as MLL Holdings, The Bussola Group, Worldwide Escrow Holdings, Ltd., International Insurance of Nebraska, Atlas Investment Bancorp, Entirety Capital, GPF Global, and Atlas-Gayle Trust. Each of these shell companies had associated email addresses, which Montillo and her co-conspirators opened and used.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/towson-woman-sentenced-eight-years-federal-prison-obtaining-more-43-million-advance-fee