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March 26, 2004
FREMONT WOMAN SENTENCED TO 57 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON AFTER BILKING INVESTORS OUT OF OVER $3 MILLION IN INVESTMENT FRAUD SCAM
Defendant Also Ordered to Pay More Than $2.5 Million In Restitution to Victims
United States Attorney Kevin V. Ryan and Internal Revenue Service Special Agent in Charge Victor S. O. Song announced today that Nimfa Montes Beredo, aka Patricia Beredo, 39, of Fremont, California, was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison after she pleaded guilty to wire fraud, credit card fraud, and money laundering in connection with a bogus investment scam she operated in the Bay Area. U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen, sitting in Oakland, California, also ordered Ms. Beredo to pay $2,512,157.60 million in restitution to her victims.
In her Plea Agreement, Ms. Beredo admitted that from January 1997 through February 2003, she induced approximately 23 individuals, the majority of whom resided in the Bay Area, to "invest" more than $3.1 million in Ms. Beredo's purported business ventures. To persuade these individuals to provide money to her, Ms. Beredo falsely claimed that she had entered into contracts with airlines that allowed her to purchase airline tickets in bulk at a discounted rate, that she would use the investors' money to purchase airline tickets in bulk at a discounted rate, that she would resell those tickets at a significant profit, and that she would share those profits with investors. Ms. Beredo falsely guaranteed various investors that they would earn returns of 5% per day, per week, or per month. Ms. Beredo then used the proceeds from the investments she received for her own benefit and to pay off earlier investors in her scheme.
Ms. Beredo also convinced some of her "investors" to provide her with certain personal information, including credit cards and credit card numbers. Ms. Beredo then used those credit cards, without authorization, to obtain things like food, clothing, airline tickets, cash advances, and entertainment. In addition to the millions she took in through her investment scheme, Ms. Beredo admitted to making more than $120,000 in unauthorized credit card charges on these victims' accounts.
Ms. Beredo has been in custody since she was arrested in February 2003.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Fremont Police Department, Fraud Investigation Unit. Douglas Sprague is the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting this case.
All press inquiries to the U. S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Jacobs at (415) 436-7181.
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