A Long Island woman has pleaded guilty to participating in a multimillion-dollar scheme to mail fraudulent prize notices to thousands of elderly and vulnerable individuals, according to a recent plea agreement.
Lorraine Chalavoutis, 64, of Greenlawn, New York, conspired to mail these notices between December 2010 and July 2016. The mailings appeared to be personally addressed to thousands of individuals whose names were on consumer lists obtained by Chalavoutis and her primary co-conspirators, Shaun Sullivan and Tully Lovisa.
None of the victims who submitted fees, which in total exceeded $30 million, received a substantial cash prize.
According to court documents, Chalavoutis created various shell companies for the purported senders of the mailings, and hid her co-conspirators’ involvement in the business by using straw owners. Lovisa and Sullivan both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and are awaiting sentencing.
Chalavoutis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert. She is scheduled to be sentenced on January 18, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Daniel Zytnick and Timothy Finley of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles P. Kelly of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case.
The scheme tricked elderly and vulnerable victims into believing they had won a cash prize that they could collect after paying a modest fee. The investigation and prosecution of Chalavoutis are part of a larger effort to protect Americans from elder fraud and to prosecute those who perpetrate and knowingly enable such schemes.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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