Man Gets Prison Time For Defrauding Elderly Alexandria Resident

ALEXANDRIA, VA—A man was sentenced to 14 years in prison for a magazine subscription scam that defrauded an elderly Alexandria resident and others out of $640,000. Raheem Oliver, 38, of Arizona had pleaded guilty earlier this year for his role.

Prosecutors say Oliver ran a magazine subscription scam where he or associates would call magazine subscribers to get them to renew. If they agreed, Oliver would double or triple-bill their accounts without renewing the subscription.

During the scam, Oliver identified vulnerable victims such as the elderly. He would also make threatening phone calls saying they needed to pay thousands of dollars for the supposed renewal fees, past-due balances, fines, legal fees and court costs. He would often threaten legal action or arrest if they did not make payments. The victims would mail checks and wire money to him and associates.

Victims included the 94-year-old Alexandria resident and an 84-year-old Painter resident with Alzheimer’s.

"Not content to simply deceive his victims, Oliver would badger and threaten his victims to extort even more money from them," said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in a statement. "This conduct is depraved in its own way and hopefully there will be some relief to the victims and their loved ones knowing that Oliver won’t be in a position to harm anyone else."

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