LOS ANGELES – A 70-year-old Santa Clarita Valley man was sentenced to seven years in federal prison today for a cold-hearted scam that drained over $4 million from vulnerable clients. Edgardo Zeta Montalban of Valencia preyed on victims with false promises of massive government grants, a scheme Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. described as “despicable, cruel and callous.”
Montalban, posing as an accountant and tax preparer from 2013 to September 2020, lured clients into investing in a fictitious federal program he dubbed “Suppressed IRS Accounts.” He convinced them that a small cash payment would unlock a flood of grant money from the government – a promise he knew was a lie. The con man demanded cash, claiming it was necessary to maintain the program’s “secrecy.”
The deception went further. Montalban worked with an accomplice to create counterfeit Treasury checks, totaling tens of millions of dollars, and presented them to victims as proof of the impending grants. These fake checks were merely props, designed to further entice victims to hand over their money. When the checks predictably didn’t materialize, Montalban fabricated delays and demanded *more* cash for supposed “expenses,” perpetuating the cycle of fraud.
“He would promise his victims a huge windfall from the government in exchange for a modest payment up front in cash,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “Because the windfall was a fraud, each purported difficulty overcome by an additional cash payment had to lead to yet another difficulty, requiring yet another cash payment. Montalban repeated this process until he had bled his victims dry…” The prosecutor’s statement reveals the systematic and relentless nature of the exploitation.
Montalban was already in federal custody when sentenced, having been found in violation of his bond conditions for continuing the fraud even *after* pleading guilty in December 2020 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. While prosecutors sought a 10-year sentence, Judge Blumenfeld reduced it to 84 months (7 years) due to Montalban’s reported health issues. It’s a small concession for a man who knowingly and systematically stole from those who trusted him.
The investigation was a joint effort by the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section secured the conviction. This case serves as a stark reminder of the lengths criminals will go to exploit vulnerability, and the importance of vigilance when dealing with financial “opportunities” that seem too good to be true.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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