FBI: Hamptons Trio Scammed Elderly Out of $695K With Fake Sweepstakes

A Hamptons trio is accused of scamming seven elderly people out of a total of $695,000 by telling them they had won a fake sweepstakes and having them send money to supposedly cover taxes and fees due on the winnings, according to a press release from the FBI.

A criminal complaint was unsealed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York charging Ana P. Leon, 50, of East Hampton, (also known as Ana P. Gonzalez), Sandra E. Leon, 47, of Hampton Bays (also known as Sandra E. Chavarria), and Ivan D. Pelaez, 51, of East Hampton with mail and wire fraud, according to the FBI.

Leon was arrested on Tuesday and her initial appearance was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke in federal court, according to the FBI.

Leon and Pelaez are currently still at large, according to the FBI.

According to the criminal complaint, the trio scammed victims from across the country by telling them that they had won large cash prizes, often as much as $3.5 million, in a sweepstakes, according to the FBI.

In some cases, the victims were informed by phone and letter that these sweepstakes were operated by federal government agencies, such as the Government Accountability Office.

Victims were told to send check or wire transfers that would supposedly cover taxes and fees due on the sweepstakes winnings to p.o boxes in East Hampton and Amagansett or to bank accounts with mailing addresses in East Hampton, Amagansett, Hampton Bays, and Manhattan.

Victims sent over the money by mail or wire transfers, some of which was withdrawn as cash in ATM transactions or used to pay for personal expenses such as airline tickets, according to the FBI.