North Texas couple sentenced in $30 million pandemic pyramid scheme
A Frisco couple were each sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for running a $30 million pyramid scheme that defrauded thousands at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, prosecutors said Wednesday.
LaShonda and Marlon Moore, aged 38 and 39 respectively, co-founded the scheme, known as Blessings in No Time, in June 2020, according to court documents.
The Moores used weekly live-stream videos to target and recruit participants with the promise of an 800% return on an initial $1,400 investment, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. The couple also guaranteed participants a refund if they were unsatisfied.
The scheme was structured on “playing boards” that had positions for participants on four levels, federal attorneys said. At the lowest level, eight participants, known as Fires, were directed to pay $1,400 to the person at the top of the board, known as a Water.
Once the Water received the payments, totaling more than $11,000, other participants would move up one level and be required to recruit new participants to fill the Fire position and perpetuate the scheme, federal prosecutors said.
The Moores profited off the scheme by placing themselves in positions on the boards that resulted in them receiving many of the ultimate payments, as well as diverting substantial funds paid by the participants to themselves, according to the news release.
Ultimately, the scheme affected more than 10,000 people and resulted in more than $30 million in losses to the participants.
“This scheme deliberately targeted the African American community, exploiting cultural trust and community ties,” said Christopher Altemus, the special agent in charge of IRS criminal investigations in Dallas. “These sentences make it clear: if you abuse trust and exploit communities, you will face justice.”
