LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A 77-year-old Las Vegas man pleaded guilty Friday in a multimillion-dollar scam involving foreign telemarketers.
Michael Zeto pleaded guilty to wire fraud and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A year ago, he was originally charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Zeto “used the information provided by his telemarketing partners to create fraudulent checks payable to companies he controlled and debited consumers’ bank accounts. Many of Zeto’s victims were retirees and other older adults.”
“Many of these consumers had purchased no products or services from the telemarketers and had not authorized anyone to debit their bank accounts,” according to a news release.
The telemarketers supplied names, bank account numbers and other personal information, officials said. Additional information about the telemarketers was not available.
“With our increasing use and dependency on technology, fraudsters have found new ways to scam unsuspecting Americans,” said U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada. “Americans, and Nevadans in particular, can be assured that our office is committed to investigating and prosecuting elder financial fraud scams.”
