The FBI arrested three men early Thursday charged with defrauding elderly victims of more than $2 million in a scheme to sell them worthless stock, prosecutors say.
Vladimir Ziskind, 49, Keith Orlean, 60, and Kevin Weinzoff, 53, were arrested at their homes in Brooklyn and Dix Hills. They face federal conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud charges, prosecutors said.
Since 2014, approximately 50 elderly victims received telephone calls from either Ziskind or Weinzoff, both of whom identified themselves as “Mike Palmer.” “Palmer” offered what he claimed to be a time sensitive opportunity to buy stock in certain companies. The so-called time sensitive opportunity was phony as the companies mentioned by “Palmer” were actually controlled by the defendants, the criminal complaint says.
In other calls, the phony sales pitches included false representations about an impending initial public offering (IPO) in their company, Digital Donations Technologies, Inc. The company had no commercial value and no IPO was taking place, court papers say.
In one intercepted phone call, Ziskind described to Orlean his strategy for a successful sales pitch, “You ram it down their f---ing throat.” In another intercepted call, when Ziskind learned a particular victim had died he said to Orlean, “I knew I should have pulled the last $10,000 out of him.”
“There are few fraud schemes sleazier than defrauding elderly victims through deceit and manipulation,” Assistant FBI Director William Sweeney said. “The defendants allegedly solicited more than $2 million in stock purchases from their more than four dozen victims. While nothing could restore the damage that has already been done, today we begin the process of holding those charged accountable for their actions.”
“The defendants allegedly deceived their victims into handing over their hard earned money in exchange for nothing but lies and false promises,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman.
Ziskind, Orlean, and Weinzoff will appear in federal court in Manhattan later today.
Photo Credit: NBC 4 New York
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