Date: May 5, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an 18-count indictment charging Angela Burdorf, of New Port Richey, Florida, with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell T. Ippolito, Jr., who is handling the case, stated that between March 2016 and May 2017, Burdorf conspired with others to operate various illegitimate debt collection businesses in Kenmore, Buffalo, Lackawanna, and the Town of Niagara, in Western New York. According to the indictment, the businesses employed fraudulent means to collect on debts, to re-collect on debts already collected, to over-collect on debts actually owed, and to process and transfer payments related to the collection of such debts. The businesses used false and threatening statements during collection telephone calls in an effort to induce the payment of debts, including referencing criminal statutes, and the filing of criminal complaints and/or arrest warrants. Debtors were routinely routed to employees who posed as attorneys during the calls, in order to intimidate debtors and collect payment. In addition, Burdorf is also accused of failing to properly report her income and the income of co- conspirators from these businesses to the Internal Revenue Service, resulting in a tax loss of approximately $1,000,000. The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas Fattorusso; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Scarpino; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia; and the United States Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Ketty Larco-Ward. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
