VANCOUVER — Four executives of a Vancouver-based payment-processing firm have been charged in what the U.S. Department of Justice says was a massive fraud scheme.
The U.S. department announced conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges against the partner owners and top managers of PacNet Services Ltd., alleging it was "the payment processor of choice" for companies that mailed large volumes of fake notices to lure alleged victims.
The department says in a news release that Roseanne Day and Robert Davis were part owners and top managers of PacNet, while Genevieve Frappier and Miles Kelly worked in the marketing or compliance departments.
Jody Hunt, the assistant attorney general for the department's civil division, says the four are charged with enriching themselves by helping those who took money from elderly and otherwise vulnerable victims.
The indictment alleges the defendants knew that many mass-mail clients were sending fraudulent notifications to consumers in the U.S. and around the world, and that the defendants made about $15 million each in the last three years the company was in operation.
None of the four accused or their lawyers could immediately be reached for comment
Vancouver police say in a release that it began investigating PacNet in October 2016 after a request for assistance from U.S. law enforcement.