A man who ran a lottery scam and defrauded victims of more than $4 million has been sentenced to federal prison.
Pablo Estrada, 27, of Florence, was sentenced to 33 months in Camden federal court on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey said in a news release. He pleaded guilty to money laundering in the summer of 2023.
Estrada orchestrated multiple scams that targeted older adult victims from Aug. 2020 to Jan. 2023, authorities said.
One of the schemes was a fake lottery, in which victims received a notification that they won a large sum of money, but were required to pay a fee before receiving the funds, federal prosecutors said. Estrada transferred the payments he received from the fees to various bank accounts that he controlled, officials said.
Some of those accounts were associated with his two businesses, Vital Solutions LLC and Futura Consulting LLC, court documents said. He also falsely stated on bank documents that the two companies did not transmit money and that their main purpose was to provide consulting services, according to court papers.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not provide details on any of his other scams.
As part of his sentence, he will also serve three years of supervised release and has been ordered to pay $4,210,000 in restitution.
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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
