Three Canadians have been sentenced to prison for their roles in defrauding elderly southern Illinoisans and others in a prescription drug discount card telemarketing scam.
The U.S. attorney's office says two of the defendants, 41-year-old Fawaz Sebai and 34-year-old Vassilios Klouvatos were sentenced to more than three years in federal prison, while the third, 27-year-old Lefkothea Klouvatos received a two-and-a-half year sentence. They pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges last December.
The scheme defrauded over 5,000 people throughout the United States out of nearly $2 million. Some of the scheme's elderly victims resided in Carterville, Johnson City, Harrisburg and Centralia.
One of the scams involved telemarketers hiding the fact the prescription drug discount cards they were selling for $299 were available for free on the internet.
The defendants sold these discount cards under various corporate names, including AFD Medical Advisors and Clinacall.
The Canadian government extradited all three defendants in 2018.
