6 Las Vegas residents charged in mail fraud that netted $10M

Six people have been charged in what federal authorities say was a fraudulent mass mailing scheme that duped thousands of people out of more than $10 million in total.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada said an unsealed indictment charges Mario Castro, 51, Jose Salud Castro, 70, Salvado Castro, 53, Miguel Castro, 55, Jose Luis Menez, 45, and Andrea Burrow, 49, with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Salvador Castro is also charged with making a false statement to investigators. All six are from Las Vegas.

The indictment alleges the mail scheme involved sending victims prize notifications seeking a small payment of $20 or $30 in exchange for collecting a large cash prize.

“The indictment alleged that none of the victims who submitted fees ever received a large cash prize,” a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Authorities said more than $10 million was collected by the defendants from 2010 to February 2018 and that many of the victims “were elderly and vulnerable.” Postal inspectors executed search warrants and the Department of Justice obtained a court order shutting down the operation, the press release said.

Three other co-defendants in the case, Patti Kern, Edgar Del Rio and Sean O’Conner, pleaded guilty to commit conspiracy to commit mail fraud earlier this year, the release stated.

The ages and hometowns of those individuals were not immediately released.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.