Canadian Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Telemarketing Scheme

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division, announced that GILLES MAISONNEUVE, age 42, of Montreal, Canada, was sentenced on December 24, 2009 by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf to 10 years' imprisonment and ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution to victims across the United States. At the hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that during a three-year period commencing in 2000, MAISONNEUVE participated in a scheme based in Montreal, Canada whereby MAISONNEUVE and others telephoned victims in the United States and the United Kingdom and pretended to award large cash prizes that could only be collected upon prepayment of taxes or fees. The telemarketers directed their victims to wire or mail substantial fees to Canada, claiming that the prize money would then be immediately released. Victims who sent money to Canada received nothing in return. Posted in: Check Fraud