Marlon and LaShonda Moore indicted for BINT gifting fraud
Marlon and LaShonda Moore, owners and operators of the BINT gifting pyramid scheme, have been indicted.
Criminal charges filed in Texas allege BINT defrauding “thousands of participants” out of “more than $10 million”.
The BINT criminal investigation was a joint operation between the DOJ, US Postal Inspection Service, the Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation division.
BINT (aka Blessings In No Time), launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, was a $29 million gifting scheme.
Specific charges against the Moores (right), include wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and 10 years in prison for each money laundering count.
The Moores’ twelve page indictment details:
- one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud (20 years max)
- five counts of wire fraud (100 years max) and
- three counts of money laundering (30 years max)
Criminal charges against the Moores follows a July 2023 civil settlement with the FTC for $9.7 million.
As part of that settlement, the Moores paid $2.5 million in restitution. A $7.2 million civil fine was suspended due to the Moores’ declared financial status.
The BINT indictment includes a notice of intent to seek forfeiture, “equal to as least $2,000,000”.
Criminal forfeiture will also include “any and all property … involved in the offense”. This likely includes a Texas property, related to which the Moores sent $446,000 of BINT victim funds to a mortgage lender.
Given the FTC settlement, I think it’s highly likely the Moores will settle for reduced sentences.
Looking at the Moores’ criminal case docket, other than the November 8th indictment, there’s only two sealed subpoenas filed by the DOJ.
It’s expected the Moores will be arrested shortly if they haven’t been already.
Criminal prosecutions bring weight to the issue that civil prosecutions cannot. I hope the DOJ, IRS, etc. will continue to consider that when looking at potential pyramid schemes.
Just a brief BINT update, a final pretrial conference was scheduled for May 3rd.
On April 11th LaShonda’s attorney filed a motion requesting a continuance.
The court granted the request on April 16th. Presently the plea agreement deadline is September 13th and the pretrial conference is now scheduled for October 4th.