Two American pyramid scammers face 30-year jail time for duping Pinoys

Published April 16, 2012 5:45pm

Two American men are facing 30 years in prison each for illegally earning from elderly and Filipino victims some $8 million dollars through a phony pyramid scheme and stock sales, a report of the news site Asian Journal said.

The report said 64-year-old Tennessee native James Sweeney and 35-year-old Canyon Lake resident Patrick Ryan were found guilty of 65 counts of grand theft and securities fraud in Riverside County Superior Court in California. Sweeney and Ryan, operators of Big Co-op and Ez2Win.biz, were ordered to pay restitution of about US$8.2 million. The report said the two are planning to appeal their case.

The US Department of Justice said more than 1,000 Californians were victimized by the operators to purchase goods and services at discounted prices from the country’s major retailers such as Macy’s, Target, and Sears. Many of the victims were Filipinos.

“In reality, consumers never received rebates or rewards. Instead, their monetary gains were based on recruiting others to purchase memberships,” said officials from the DOJ.

The report said Sweeney and Ryan compared their business to successful companies like Google and Ebay and provided false information about supposedly huge profits. In reality, their online business was not profitable, justice officials added.

The report said the illegal scheme enabled Sweeney and Ryan to live a lavish lifestyle — purchasing homes, country club memberships, several luxury cars, a $ 23,000 wedding ring, and a $ 100,000 wedding, among others. - with Jon Lindley Agustin, VVP, GMA News

Tags: unitedstates, scam