MARYLAND NEWS

Today the Justice Department announced the establishment of three Strike Force teams created to enhance the Department’s existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related fraud.  The Strike Force teams will operate out of U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Southern District of Florida, the District of Maryland, and a joint effort between the Central and Eastern Districts of California. Strike Force Team Locations Include Los Angeles, Sacramento, Miami, and Baltimore. Source US Attorney, District of Maryland

The defendants compromised email accounts of individual and business victims, which they used to send fraudulent payment instructions to financial institutions or business associates to misappropriate funds.  The indictment alleges that the defendants used the stolen identifying information of individual victims to obtain Employer Identification Numbers and state business certificates in the name of shell businesses. Source: Us Attorney, District of Maryland

Defendant’s Alleged Scheme Involved More than 20 Victims, Many of Whom were Senior Citizens. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

The officers are accused of working secondary employment positions with a private security company while also on-duty with the police department. The company provided security at more than 20 apartment complexes in the county. The officers are also accused of providing false information to the apartment complexes to justify the continued hiring of the security company. Source: WTOP and Prince George's County Police Department.

The Maryland Attorney General announced today that his Consumer Protection Division has issued a Final Order against two individuals and their entities for violating the Consumer Protection Act when they collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from consumers to help them consolidate and pay off outstanding consumer debt, but did not provide the promised services.

The Attorney General said the individuals and their entities “… deceived and defrauded consumers with promises that…(they) would ultimately save consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars, pay off consumers’ outstanding debts in a shorter timeframe than the original loan terms, and improve consumers’ credit scores… instead, they took the money for themselves while consumers had their cars repossessed and their houses threatened with foreclosure.” They charged consumers upfront fees between $11,000 and $118,000 for services, followed by charging additional amounts.”

Before entering into contracts for such services, consumers should verify a provider’s licensing status at https://www.dllr.state.md.us/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml. Additionally, persons who provide mortgage assistance relief services, credit services, money transmission services, and debt management services are generally prohibited from collecting upfront fees. Source: Maryland Attorney General

The Defendant Allegedly Used Funds Owed to Clients from his Law Firm to Pay for Personal Expenses, Including His Mortgage. Source: U.S. Attorney, District of Maryland

A Baltimore resident was sentenced for felony theft for his role in the operation of an unlicensed assisted living facility… In a separate case in Baltimore City, the man pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed assisted living facility, exploitation of a vulnerable adult, embezzlement, and public assistance fraud. In that case, he was sentenced to 10 years.of incarceration, suspending all but time served, with five years of probation. Source: Maryland Attorney General

The state legislative audit of Maryland's Lottery Agency revealed that, in a one-year period, eight players had won top lottery prizes 200 or more times. In the state's Pick 4 game, where the odds of winning are one in-10,000, auditors found one player had claimed the game's $5,000 top prize, 79-times in one year.

Among other things the report by the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits said “Our audit disclosed that the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency had not established procedures to identify and investigate individuals who won multiple high-dollar lottery prizes…to identify patterns of potential collusion between players and lottery related vendors or officials." Source: Fox45News and Maryland Office of Legislative Audits

Maryland's Court of Special Appeals vacated a woman's expungement in a decade-old identity fraud case, ruling that a "good cause" provision in the state law designed to shield old criminal convictions does not give judges the authority to grant expungement for more serious offenses. Source: Maryland Daily Record

The nationwide Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force of 50 states will investigate and take legal action against the telecommunications companies responsible for bringing foreign robocalls into the United States.

According to the National Consumer Law Center and Electronic Privacy Information Center,over 33 million scam robocalls are made to Americans every day. These scam calls include Social Security Administration fraud against seniors, Amazon scams against consumers, and many other scams targeting all consumers, including some of the most vulnerable. In 2021, scammers took $29.8 billion dollars through fraudulent calls, most of which originated overseas. The Maryland Attorney General's press release also offers tips to avoid scams and unwanted calls. Source: Maryland Attorney General