12 Accused of Telemarketing Scams Aimed at Elderly

In a major crackdown on telemarketing frauds aimed at the elderly, federal authorities have arrested 12 individuals in raids on five companies in Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties this week.

Under a joint operation dubbed Senior Sentinel, three federal agencies led by the FBI shut down the companies Wednesday, seized their records and made the arrests. Three more individuals named in a criminal complaint remain at large.

Many of the victims across the nation are older than 80, and some are in their 90s, said U.S. Atty. Nora M. Manella.

One of the most “egregious” cases, said U.S. Atty. Brent Whittlesey, involved an alleged Brea boiler room that preyed on previous victims of telemarketing scams.

According to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, Nortay Consultants told fraud victims it would recover some or all of their lost money in exchange for retainer fees that ranged from $100 to more than $8,000.

Nortay telemarketers, representing themselves as fraud investigators or lawyers, collected about $491,000 from 1,100 victims between February 1993 and April 1995, and returned only $11,000 to victims, the affidavit states. No investigations were conducted, the document says.

Instead, the affidavit alleges, company co-founder Norman Hefferan and others would laugh at their victims, calling them “stupid,” “fools” and “idiots.”

Hefferan, 59, of La Canada, and co-founders Lori Blitz, 43, of Santa Ana, and Harold Larsen, 43, of Huntington Beach, are among seven Nortay telemarketers accused of mail or wire fraud.

Blitz’s court-appointed lawyer refused to comment. Lawyers for Hefferan and Larsen said their clients left the company and had nothing to do with any fraud.

Other Nortay telemarketers arrested were Dennis Choquette, 38, of Anaheim and Jacob Giffin, 26, of Cypress. Two others, Jerry St. Marie, 40, of Long Beach and Chris Hall of Norwalk, remained at large.

Among those arrested on fraud charges in another alleged scam were Stephen Paul Olson, 37, of Orange and Charles T. O’Brien, 58, of Riverside, who worked at a Riverside sweepstakes company, Adolescent Recovery Ranch.