A Sullivan County couple has been ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution for their roles in a sweepstakes scheme that scammed elderly people.
U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern also sentenced Errol Alveranga, 65, and Dona Taylor-Alveranga, 67, of Monticello to a year of home confinement and another year of supervision, on Aug. 28.
The couple did not directly defraud anyone, according to court records, but allowed stolen money to flow into their bank accounts from people they didn’t know and then quickly transferred the money out, at the direction of Mrs. Alveranga’s brother.
They pleaded guilty to tax evasion for not declaring the stolen money as income.
The couple “facilitated a large-scale and cruel fraud by receiving the proceeds and passing them along,” assistant federal prosecutor Steven J. Kochevar stated in a letter to the judge. Although they denied knowledge of the fraud, he said, they played an important part in the scheme.
The underlying fraud is known as an advanced payment scheme. Scammers call up elderly people and say they have won a sweepstakes or a lottery. But to collect the prize, taxes or fees have to be paid first.
Even after victims paid phony fees in this case, the fraudsters required more payments. And when the victim or family members or the bank became suspicious, someone would call while posing as a governmental or bank official and ask for more money.
Victims were directed to make the checks payable to the Alverangas and send the checks to an address in Monticello.
As $1.3 million flowed into and out of their bank accounts from 2015 to 2022, the Alverangas did not question the sources of the checks. By not declaring the funds as income, the government says, they evaded about $213,000 in personal income taxes.
Errol Alveranga began working at age 5 in Jamaica as a butcher’s helper in a slaughterhouse, defense attorney James E. Neuman said in a sentencing memo submitted to the judge. He was considered a professional butcher by age 14 and he later completed a plumbing program.
He immigrated in 1984, settled in Mount Vernon, worked at car washes and gas stations and a food company. He moved to Monticello in 2015, worked in housekeeping for Crystal Run Healthcare, and in 2017, as his health deteriorated , occasionally worked at odd jobs in the summers.
His wife also immigrated from Jamaica in 1984, and settled in Brooklyn, defense attorney Elizabeth K. Quinn said in a sentencing letter. She survived abusive relationships, supported her family with various jobs, eventually became a home health care worker, and moved to Monticello.
The Alverangas had known one another for decades, and in 2018 they married.
Non-mandatory sentencing guidelines called for 12 to 18 months, and the prosecutor recommended imprisonment within that range for both defendants.
The U.S. Probation Office recommended 12 months for Mr. Alveranga and nine months for Mrs. Alveranga.
Their lawyers recommended no incarceration, citing their clients’ ill health and status as first-time criminals.
The Alverangas were arrested in May 2022 and released from custody on posting $150,000 bonds.
Judge Halpern sentenced them this week to time served. He ordered Errol to perform 50 hours of community service a year for two years, and Dona to perform 35 hours of community service a year for two years.
