Date: Dec. 3, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov SAN FRANCISCO — Nemr Hallak was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for his role in a large-scale “Yellow Pages” telemarketing fraud scheme that he and others orchestrated from Canada. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Edward M. Chen, Senior U.S. District Judge. Hallak of Quebec, Canada, was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2016 on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud. He was initially arrested in Greece in 2016, and was re-arrested and extradited to the United States in late 2023. Hallak pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud on Sept. 12, 2024. In his plea agreement, Hallak admitted that he conspired with co-defendants and others to carry out a “business directory” telemarketing scheme. Using a variety of means, including false and misleading cold calls and false invoices, Hallak and his co-conspirators caused victims to pay for business directory services they neither ordered nor received. Co-defendants Tolga Suatac and Michelina Perna pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and were sentenced in March 2023. Co-defendant Roberto Mancini’s case is pending. “The defendant and his co-conspirators devised a scheme that targeted small businesses, misleading those businesses into believing they owed money for fake directory listings,” said United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey. “Regardless of where they are operating, fraudsters who cheat and deceive U.S. businesses will be investigated and brought to justice.” “Nemr Hallak’s sentencing demonstrates IRS-CI’s commitment to bringing to justice those who prey upon American businesses. The intricacy of the telemarketing scheme that victimized thousands of individuals out of more than $5 million was complicated by it largely being run abroad,” said IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen. “What Hallak and his co-conspirators did not account for is the global reach of IRS-CI international operations and our partnerships with international law enforcement. We are committed to following the money no matter where it takes us.” “To protect the public, Postal Inspectors worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners at the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division to arrest and prosecute those individuals responsible for fraud schemes committed against small businesses and the public,” said San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Stephen M. Sherwood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). Court documents described that Hallak and others caused shell companies to be formed in Florida and Delaware in the names of nominees, who were paid in cash to be listed as officers and directors of the shell companies but did no meaningful work and did not really control the companies. Many of the shell companies used the term “Yellow Pages” to suggest their operations were legitimate. According to Hallak’s plea agreement, thousands of victims were cold called and told that they had a pre-existing business relationship with a “Yellow Pages” or other entity formed by members of the conspiracy, that they had previously purchased business directory services from the defendants, and that they owed money for those services. Victims were told that they owed anywhere between $400 and $1,800 for a previously purchased business directory listing, and were sent fake invoices. When such initial misrepresentations were not sufficient to induce payment, some victims were harassed and threatened with legal action and sent additional false invoices with additional charges. In addition to the terms of imprisonment, Judge Chen sentenced Hallak to three years of supervised release. Hallak was also ordered to pay $5,381,702.86 in restitution. Hallak is currently in federal custody and will begin serving his sentence immediately. Assistant United States Attorney Lloyd Farnham is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kathy Tat and Helen Yee. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by IRS-CI and USPIS. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance in securing the extradition of Hallak. The Justice Department thanks the Ministry of Justice of the Hellenic Republic and the Hellenic Police which provided excellent cooperation in the arrest and re-arrest of Hallak and his subsequent extradition. IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
