Scam Artist Gets 5 Years in Prison
SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - A scam artist was sentenced to 5 years in
prison for selling phony travel packages to Jewish and Greek Orthodox
senior citizens who wanted to go to Cuba for religious and cultural
reasons. Ralph Adam Rendon told his victims that the Treasury
Department canceled the trips and he kept their money to buy a
Mercedes, pay his rent and hire a divorce lawyer, state prosecutors say.
Rendon,
33, stole $154,000 from 41 people, including 20 old folks who responded
to his travel agency ads in religious magazines; about half of his
victims were Californians, Attorney General Jerry Brown said.
Some
of the victims wanted to visit a Greek Orthodox church that Fidel
Castro allowed to be built in Cuba, and hoped to offer humanitarian
assistance to members of the community. Cuba is believed to have a few
thousand Orthodox believers, only a few dozen of whom are Greek.
The Jewish Americans' trips were also for humanitarian purposes, to help the small Jewish community in Cuba.
The
victims paid up to $4,000 apiece, Brown says, then Rendon told them,
"As soon as we receive word from the U.S. government that the freeze on
religious programs in Cuba has been lifted, we will allow you to travel
to Cuba at any date of your choosing."
Rendon's ads appeared in
the "Orthodox Observer," "Jewish Journal" and "Jewish Life." A
spokesperson for Brown's office said, "We are not aware of any trips
offered to the Catholic community."
Rendon was sentenced this
week to 5 years in prison; as part of his plea agreement additional
fraud charges related to a second scheme will not be pursued.
While
out on bail for the 2006 travel fraud, Rendon started a second company,
London Exchange, which charged people $500 to apply for credit cards
that didn't exist, prosecutors said.
Rendon pleaded guilty to grand theft.
This doens't mean that we can't go after him for the money he stole. but it does mean that the county isn't going to try and get the money from him.
IS anybody doing a class action law suit on him becasue I want my money back, that guy was driving a Mercedes and living on the beach I want my money back