2 from Southern Nevada charged in senior fraud scheme
A Southern Nevada man and woman were charged in connection with a nationwide fraud bust, according to the Department of Justice.
Edgar Del Rio, 51, of Las Vegas and Patti Kern, 49, of Henderson were arrested in connection with a $1.5 million direct-mail prize scam from 2011-18. The scam targeted seniors and led them to believe they would receive a large sum of money in exchange for a small fee, according to the department.
Del Rio pleaded guilty to conspiring with others in the scam, and Kern is expected to plead guilty on March 14, according to a department release Thursday.
The arrests were part of “the largest-ever nationwide elder fraud sweep,” involving more than 260 defendants accused of defrauding more than 2 million Americans, many of them seniors.
Scammers steal an estimated $3 billion each year from seniors in the U.S., the department said.
The department began a series of busts to catch scammers that target seniors after President Donald Trump signed the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act into law in 2017. Last year’s sweep ended with about 250 arrests.
Contact Max Michor at mmichor@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0365. Follow @MaxMichor on Twitter.
