Arizona AG to distribute $2M to victims of telephone fraud operation

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced Wednesday that nearly $2 million has been recovered for victims of a telephone fraud operation.

A network of people made unsolicited calls to hook victims with “get-rich-quick” business opportunities in 2009, according to a press release.

The organization, called Bankcard Empire, would then send packages to victims that required a signature. The scammers used those signatures to forge credit card forms and charge the victims for services.

The Attorney General’s Financial Remedies Section conducted an investigation and seized cash, bank accounts, 12 vehicles, 14 parcels of property and other personal property.

The FRS recovered $1.8 million, which will be distributed to nearly 2,000 victims, through the forfeiture and liquidation of the property.

Leslie Mersky, the head of Bankcard Empire, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in March 2018.

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