Policy- A Maryland man was tricked into embezzling $4m from his employer to save a woman from make-believe mobsters.
- The family-run online con helped pay for luxury watches and a Rolls Royce.
A man believed he was saving a woman from a
Archie Kaslov, 55, and Candy Evans, 52, have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a wide-ranging
Their sons, Tony John Evans, Corry Blue Evans, Robert Evans, and Robert Evans' common-law ex-wife Gina Russell, also faced charges, said the DoJ.
The scam targeted a Maryland man who was tricked into embezzling more than $4 million from his Washington, DC employer, the DoJ said.
The man, who had not been identified, believed he was saving a New York woman he met on Backpage, also unidentified, who he had met online. She claimed that she was in danger because she owed money to local mobsters.
To save her, he embezzled millions from his employer between January 2017 and March 2017. He then converted the funds into cash and gold bars and delivered the money to drop-off locations across New York, believing it would pay off the mobsters.
But the money, the DoJ said, funded a spending spree for the Evans-Kaslov family. They used it to buy Rolexes watches worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, per the press release.
The mob enforcer was played by one of the New York couple's sons, the press release said.
And the woman, per the release, had conspired with the family to extort money from the Maryland victim.
In 2017, the press release said, Candy Evans, became "panicked" and asked Russell to marry the New York woman who was in on the scheme. They married at City Hall in New York City.
Evans, according to the DoJ, believed that married individuals could not testify against each other.
Evans also convinced the New York woman and Russell to sign a notarized, handwritten confession — an attempt to try and absolve the Evans-Kaslov family.
She then changed the story to blame the extortion scheme on her son Tony John Evans, Russell, and the New York woman, the press release said.
Evans was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison, and three years of supervised release.
Kaslov was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Evans and Kaslov will, at some point, have to pay back their swindled funds in restitution.
Their son Tony John Evans was jailed for five years in September 2018, after pleading guilty to interference with interstate commerce by extortion.
Robert Evans and his ex-wife Russell have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Corry Blue Evans has pleaded not guilty.