October 29, 2022 11:10 a.m.
A former New Jersey man was sentenced to federal prison Friday for his role in a scheme to deceive and cheat $1 million from an elderly Roseburg resident.
A release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon, said 43-year old Thomas Gerard Mautone was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and three year’s supervised release. Mautone was also ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to his victim.
According to court documents and trial testimony, Mautone was one of five people who worked together to perpetrate a scheme to convince the elderly man to invest $1 million in a fraudulent high-yield international investment scam. In July of 2015, one of Mautone’s co-defendants, 46-year old Jared Mack, of Utah, made initial contact with the victim to pitch an investment opportunity claiming to produce weekly returns of 20 percent. Once the victim expressed interest in the purported opportunity – and produced evidence that he had $1 million to invest – Mack introduced him to Mautone, the supposed connection to investment “platform partner” and codefendant 39-year old Olabode Olukanni, of New York.
The release said for several months, Mautone and his co-defendants maintained frequent contact with the victim and repeatedly attempted to assure him, via a series of increasingly intimidating and pressure-laden communications, of the investment opportunity’s legitimacy, low risk, and promised returns. Mautone made these fake representations despite knowing that others had their money stolen by his supposed Hong Kong investment partner, and despite being convicted only two years earlier of wire fraud for pitching a similar high-yield investment scam in South Carolina.
In December 2015, following this months-long pressure campaign, the victim wired $1 million to a bank account in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. That account was controlled by 38-year old Oglu Qasimov, of Azerbaijan. Qasimov immediately withdrew the money and used it to purchase gold from a jewelry store in Dubai. The victim never saw his money again, nor did he receive the promised investment returns.
On June 21, 2017, a federal grand jury in Eugene returned a six-count indictment charging Mautone, Mack, Olukanni and Qasimov with wire fraud.
On May 13, 2022, Mautone was convicted at trial by a jury in Eugene.
Mack, Olukanni, and Qasimov all pleaded guilty and were sentenced for their roles in the scheme.
The case was investigated by the FBI. It was prosecuted by Gavin W. Bruce and William M. McLaren, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.