Belchertown Man Sentenced in Advance Fee Fraud Scheme That Defrauded 130 Victims
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 31, 2013 |
BOSTON—A Belchertown, Massachusetts man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Springfield for running an advance fee fraud scheme that defrauded 130 victims of $800,000 and possessing a firearm.
John Sacco, 65, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor to 46 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $86,460 in restitution. In May 2013, Sacco pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, mail fraud, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
From August 2008 to December 2009, Sacco and others ran a national advance fee scheme that defrauded approximately 130 victims of over $800,000. Sacco placed advertisements in national newspapers promising would-be investors that they could make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by working with Sacco’s company, SAC Financial Corp, as brokers of business loans to individuals with poor credit. The individuals who responded to the advertisements were subjected to high-pressure sales tactics and false references that convinced them to send Sacco an up-front fee of between $3,500 and $6,900. Thereafter, Sacco strung the victims along through a fictitious loan brokerage process that resulted in no actual loans being made.
Sacco also was sentenced for being a felon in possession of a firearm. In 2001, he was convicted in federal court of defrauding Monson Savings Bank of $236,000. As a convicted felon, Sacco was prohibited from possessing a firearm. In November 2010, a 12-gauge shotgun and 16 shotgun shells were seized from Sacco’s bedroom during the execution of a court ordered search warrant for Sacco’s residence.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Vincent Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Kevin O'Regan of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office.