Man Gets 4 Years in Credit Card Scam

A Granada Hills man was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison Monday for running a credit card application scam that defrauded hundreds of people with poor credit histories.

Victor Leroy Taylor, 39, committed his crimes at the same time he was being prosecuted in federal court for a virtually identical scheme.

U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi ordered that Taylor’s sentence run consecutively after he completes a five-year prison term handed down in the first case.

Taylor pleaded guilty to the most recent charges in July on the day he was to go on trial.

His girlfriend, Lena Harrington, 35, of Palmdale, was also convicted. She is to be sentenced next week.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Christine Adams said the couple targeted people with poor credit histories, promising them pre-approved credit cards with attractive interest rates. Applicants were required to pay advance fees ranging from $20 to $50.

Hundreds of victims mailed in a total of about $188,000 to three bogus companies set up by Taylor: Montgomery, Montgomery Financial Service and Montgomery Field Services. But none of the applicants received a credit card in return.

Taylor, acting alone, launched the first scam in 1999 under the names Colonial Financial Services, First American Financial Services and Fallbrook Financial Services.

He netted about $4.5 million from that scheme, spending about $1.25 million to buy eight houses and a Mercedes-Benz.

Authorities said Taylor operated a similar advance-fee business in 1993 under the names First Nationwide Financial and American Pacific Financial. He was not prosecuted in that case but signed a consent decree in which he promised not to engage in any advance-fee schemes through the mails.