This week, a Canadian man was caught and charged with stealing $50 million from American people through a complicated pyramid scheme that was sold as a way to get rich quick.
Alex Dee, who is 49 years old, was caught trying to enter Washington state from Canada on January 10th.
Dee, whose real name used to be Alex Dowlatshahi, is accused of being the brains behind 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle LLC (8FDL), a business that said its business model and training classes could help regular people make huge amounts of money.
In the criminal lawsuit, two of Dee’s partners were also named. They are Brian Kaplan, 52, and Jerrold Maurer, 58. Both of them have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
It is said that from January 2017 to June 2019, Dee and his friends used false claims and high-pressure sales techniques to get people to join 8FDL’s pyramid-style business structure.
According to the released indictment, Dee sent misleading emails to members saying they could make $5,000 to $10,000 in 10 to 14 days with no work experience. He also said that most 8FDL users made a lot of money in the first 30 to 45 days after joining.
In fact, police say that most of the people who joined the scheme lost money, while Dee made millions of dollars by cheating others.
Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said, “The people behind this pyramid scheme used outright lies to take advantage of weak people who were looking for easy money.” “With his co-conspirators’ guilty pleas unsealed, the leader of this scam will now face justice for his deception.”
Prosecutors say that 8FDL used spam emails, robocalls, videos, and workshops to commit fraud on a large scale. Dee and his friends talked about 8FDL as if it were a real company with real goods, ignoring the fact that its main way of making money was by getting new members.
A lot of different fake products, shell companies, and a complicated multi-level marketing system were used in this scheme. The goal was to get money to the top of the pyramid.
The government says that outrageous entry fees of more than $3,000 and monthly fees of hundreds or thousands of dollars were red flags. Members, on the other hand, saw little to no real income from their huge purchases.
Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the USPIS Criminal Investigations Group said, “This case shows how important it is for people to do a lot of research on any business opportunity they are being sold.” We should always remember that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Alex Dee went to federal court on Wednesday after being arrested. He is charged with 6 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is also accused of being the leader of the scam. Each one can get you up to 20 years in federal jail.
Brain Kaplan and Jerrold Maurer, two of Dee’s partners who were found guilty, could spend up to five years in jail for the single conspiracy charge they admitted to.
All three will be sentenced later this year. Federal judges have a lot of freedom to choose the right punishment based on the specifics and seriousness of the crimes they committed. According to the prosecutors, the serious harm caused by this scam calls for long jail terms.
Authorities have now stopped the threat that the almost 3-year plan posed because Dee can’t leave the country. Millions of dollars have been lost, though, in what the Justice Department calls “an unacceptable case of deception.”
Brandon Burkart, lead prosecutor for the Fraud Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said, “We will continue to work to find and shut down active pyramid schemes while also seeking justice for those who have been harmed by these harmful scams.”
The material on this page is only meant to be informative. The above descriptions of the claimed scheme are based on what police have said and found. People who are said or suggested to have done something illegal should be thought to be innocent until proven guilty in court.