2 From Bakersfield, Los Angeles

POSTED: 5:25 pm PST December 3, 2010

UPDATED: 5:31 pm PST December 3, 2010

http://www.turnto23.com/news/26014901/detail.html

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced Friday that Stefan Lemar Miller, 31, and Paul Anthony Vasquez, 27, both of Santa Clarita, were arrested on complaints charging mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

The complaints allege that beginning in February of 2009, Miller and Vasquez operated a company called Maxwell, Turner & Associates (MTA) in Bakersfield, which claimed to provide debt collection services and employed between 15 and 20 people.

After a client signed a contract, MTA would provide false information to the clients about legal proceedings, the whereabouts of the debtor and the ability to collect the funds.

When MTA collected money from the debtor, they would not send the money to their clients. MTA would frequently tell clients that additional fees were needed to continue with the litigation process, although no litigation was actually taking place.

This would continue until clients could no longer afford to pay. According to the complaint, between February 2009 and May of 2010, MTA received more than $2.7 million.

The complaint further alleges that in May 2010, MTA shut down operations in Bakersfield and started a new company called Stanley, Morgan & Associates Inc. (SMA) operating in the same manner in Monrovia.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the Bakersfield Police Department, and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark J. McKeon and Stanley A. Boone are prosecuting the case.

The maximum statutory penalty for mail fraud is 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of wire fraud is 20 years and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense.

The maximum penalty for money laundering is 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.

Any sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.