Long Island Man Pleads Guilty To Nationwide Fraud Scheme

A Long Island man pleaded guilty today to running a scheme to defraud people across the country, mainly the elderly, into thinking they had won a prize promotion and sending him cash.

Shaun Sullivan, 37, of Merrick, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He sent fake prize-promotion mailings to various people, mainly the elderly and vulnerable, and told them they could get large cash prizes for a modest fee. Sullivan collected more than $30 million from people, but none of them never received their substantial cash price.

“Sullivan preyed on consumers, many of them vulnerable and elderly, by sending fraudulent mailings designed to trick them into believing they had won a cash prize; he then lined his own pockets with the fees he extracted from the victims,” said United States Attorney Richard Donoghue. “Protecting the community from mass mailing fraud schemes remains a priority of this Office and the Department of Justice.”

Between December 2010 and July 2016, Sullivan and other sent the fraudulent mailings to thousands of people across the country. The mailings seemed to be personally addressed to the people, whose names were on consumer lists that Sullivan and his co-conspirators had obtained.

Sullivan and co-defendant Tully Lovisa maintained mailboxes around Long Island to receive the cash sent by victims. They created shell companies for the fake senders of the mailings and hid their involvement by using straw owners and aliases.

Lovisa pleaded guilty in October 2018 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and is currently awaiting sentencing.

Sullivan faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced, as well as $550,000 in forfeiture and a fine of up to $250,000.