A Southern California man was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison on Friday in downtown Los Angeles for orchestrating a $10 million financial fraud scam aimed at elderly people.
Sylas Verdzekov, 39, of Chino Hills, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. to pay $10.5 million in restitution to scheme victims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Last year, Verdzekov pleaded guilty to one federal charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors say Verdzekov and others fabricated bogus identification documents for imaginary people beginning in November 2021 and continuing until February 2025, including passports and driver’s licences. Using the forged documents, the defendant and others established at least 36 shell businesses in California that did not conduct legal business and were formed exclusively to further their criminal activities, according to federal authorities.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Verdzekov and his co-defendants used phoney identities and sham enterprises to register at least 145 bank accounts and 32 private mailboxes around Southern California.
In one scam that targeted the elderly with phone calls and email pop-ups, the defendants acted as law enforcement personnel or employees of well-known firms, attempting to assist the victims in maintaining the security of their accounts, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
They then made up claims that the victim’s bank or payment accounts had been compromised and needed to be rectified immediately. Victims were persuaded they needed to swiftly transfer money from their “corrupted” accounts to accounts that Verdzekov and others fraudulently formed and controlled, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, the defendants engaged in a similar scam, posing as a real estate owner selling property. Using forged identities and credentials, the defendants duped victims into believing they were going into a legitimate property sale, tricking them into wiring money or mailing a check to an account or mailbox controlled by the conspirators.
According to federal prosecutors, Verdzekov and his associates laundered at least $10 million in funds stolen from at least 100 individuals.
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