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Roy Johannes Gillar of Las Vegas, Harold Mignott of Voorhees, New Jersey, and Jerrid Douglas, of Freehold, New Jersey received prison sentences of six years, three years, and 45 months respectively, for their actions in a USD 1 million “upfront-fee” scheme which defrauded victims.
As previously reported (Nov/Dec 2022 DCW 60), the three men were each convicted of wire fraud conspiracy and four counts of wire fraud on 21 October 2022.
According documents pertaining to the case, Gillaar, Mignott, and Douglas, along with another conspirator, induced the two victim company owners in 2016 to enter a joint venture agreement with their shell company, falsely representing that their company could obtain a standby letter of credit backed by either EUR 1 billion in cash or “highly lucrative Mexican gold bonds”.
The victim company sought access to the standby in order to purchase raw gold overseas and sell it to gold refineries. As part of the agreement, the victim company agreed to pay the defendants USD 1 million for the bank fee associated with the standby.
To conceal the scheme, defendants used various tactics, including providing the victims a bogus letter from a major international bank stating that it was “ready, willing, and able” to provide a EUR 1 billion standby to the defendants’ shell company.
After the victim company owners sent USD 800,000 to the defendants, the defendants failed to provide a standby or anything of value. Instead, they misappropriated the funds for personal use.
Gillar and Mignott were sentenced on 22 June 2023; Douglas on 25 July 2023. In addition to the prison terms, US District Judge John Michael Vazquez sentenced each defendant to three years of supervised release and to pay restitution of USD 1.1 million. He further ordered Gillar to pay forfeiture of USD 1 million, Mignott to pay USD 219,000, and Douglas to pay USD 44,750.
Source: US Attorney, District of New Jersey