Three masterminds of a pyramid scheme were sentenced for founding and operating the scam that cost investors 23 million dollars.
The trio was named Alex Dee, of Texas, Brian Kaplan, of Colorado, and Jerrold Mauer, of New York. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) investigated the case, and trial Attorneys Brandon Burkart and Andrew Jaco of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section led the prosecution.
$23M fraud trio sentenced
This court action against Dee, Kaplan, and Mauer continues a January 2024 indictment unsealed against the trio for their illicit investment pyramid scheme under the name 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle LLC (8FDL).
The court documents allege that the three individuals began running the company from January 2017 until March 2019. In this timeframe, they advertised the Wyoming-based company as an online marketing business that allowed members to easily earn millions of dollars by selling memberships into 8FDL.
They paraded the platform as an online repository of content and video assets related to online marketing and self-help sessions. These assets were fabricated shells with little purpose other than to provide a legitimate-looking company for the trio to promote the scheme.
These content assets garnered attention and monetary investments by allowing members to make money by referring recruits to sign up for the site. According to the evidence presented, Dee, Kaplan, and Maurer “falsely represented to the public that typical members with no prior skills or experience would make substantial sums in a short period of time, including earning more than $10,000 within 60-90 days.”
It was revealed that most of the 8FDL members never made a “single sale, and Dee, Kaplan, and Maurer made these false statements to induce others to join 8FDL. In total, more than 2,800 individuals joined 8FDL, which resulted in approximately $23.5 million in losses to victim members.”
Dee was sentenced to 36 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,845,600 in forfeiture; Kaplan was sentenced to 22 months in jail and ordered to pay $2,838,700 in forfeiture; and Mauer, was sentenced to 22 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,545,500 in forfeiture.
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