Man convicted in 'lottery taxes' scam

Some victims sent him thousands of dollars after he told them they'd won a Canadian lottery.

By GRAHAM BRINK

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 18, 2001

TAMPA -- A Sarasota man accused of scamming elderly victims out of $1.6-million by promising huge lottery payoffs was convicted in federal court Wednesday on multiple mail fraud and money laundering charges.

Serges Jacques "Jack" Descent will be sentenced April 12 and faces up to 35 years in prison. The jury also ordered the 63-year-old to forfeit $1.6-million.

The scam targeted people in their 70s and 80s who had previously participated in foreign sweepstakes or who had been identified as easy marks. During the two-week trial, victims from across the country testified that they received calls saying they had won hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Canadian lottery. All they had to do to get the money was pay the Canadian taxes in advance, the callers said.

But when the victims sent the money, the promised "armored car" with their winnings never showed up.

Callers often pretended to be lawyers to persuade some of the victims to send more money on the premise there were more taxes, insurance or processing fees to pay. Some victims were told they could be convicted of tax evasion if they refused to pay the taxes first.

Ruth Davidson, a retired dietitian, was told by a soft-voiced caller that she was getting $178,000 from the Canadian lottery. She only had to pay $6,000 in taxes first.

"He was just so convincing," Mrs. Davidson said after the scam was discovered. "He said his mother sounded the same way I did."

In the end, Mrs. Davidson sent nearly $60,000 to addresses in St. Petersburg and Montreal, supposedly for taxes and insurance. Another of the 13 victims handed over $400,000, documents show.

Some of money was sent to Descent's business, Group Crown International Inc. at 3235 Fairfield Ave. S in St. Petersburg.

Descent claimed he thought all the checks were from people investing in his invention: a self-cleaning toilet.

Descent was convicted on 26 counts of mail fraud, 24 counts of engaging in illegal monetary transactions, five counts of money laundering and one each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

- Contact Graham Brink at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com.

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