MINNEAPOLIS — A Colorado man was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay more than $20 million in restitution for his part in a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme, as well as tax evasion.
Henry Aragon, 54, of Golden, was sentenced to five years in prison and two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $19,051,667 in restitution to the victims plus $1,490,011 in restitution to the IRS on his tax evasion case, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Minnesota.
The DOJ reported that for more than a decade, Aragon "devised and participated in a large, nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme involving magazine subscription sales" where he — along with his co-defendants — "perpetuated a conspiracy to defraud over 150,000 consumer-victims across the country, many of whom were older or otherwise susceptible to fraud."
This scheme, which was carried out by dozens of fraudulent magazine sales companies, spanned both the United States and Canada. The companies operated telemarketing call centers, where employees called the victims and through lies, convinced them to make large or repeat payments to the companies, the DOJ said.
Aragon and his companies defrauded thousands, the DOJ said, and collected more than $19 million from the victims. IRS special agents identified more than $2 billion in tax fraud from his last fiscal year carrying out the scheme, the DOJ said.
He pleaded guilty on July 5, 2022 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and tax evasion, and was sentenced on Nov 7.
The IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office helped with this investigation.
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