A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced for his involvement in a scam that defrauded victims by pretending to be employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Frank Gregory Cedeno, of Mahanoy City, Penn., will spend three years in prison, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the Justice Department announced July 26. He also has to pay over $366,550 in restitution
Cedeno and co-conspirators scammed victims by pretending to be employees of SEC and demanding payments. In one scam, the conspirators used email to send official-looking documentation and the SEC seal to victims to get them to pay a fee to receive a portion of a legal settlement. Another email scam labeled the victims as defendants in a civil lawsuit and gave them the choice of either appearing in court of paying a smaller fee.
Cedeno pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in December 2018.