CEO Of Sonoma County-Based Ameritech Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud, Money Laundering
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The CEO of a Sonoma County-based company pleaded guilty on Friday to wire fraud and money laundering charges in connection with a multi-million-dollar scheme to deceive people into enrolling in his companies' student loan repayment services programs, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Brandon Frere, 42, CEO of Ameritech Financial, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, and admitted as part of his plea that losses caused by his scheme was between $25 million and $70 million from January 2014 through November 2018.
During that period, prosecutors say, Frere owned and operated three companies-American Financial Benefits Center (AFBC), the Financial Education Benefits Center (FEBC) and Ameritech, all based in Rohnert Park.
According to Frere's plea agreement, he used those companies to market student loan document preparation services for borrowers who wished to apply for programs through the U.S. Department of Education. Frere targeted potential customers who were seeking federal loan forgiveness, loan consolidation and reduced-payment programs.
Frere's companies sold consumers "document preparation" services, as well as purportedly optional membership in a "financial education benefits program,"
Frere admitted he instructed his employees to follow misleading sales scripts and to employ deceptive sales tactics so that people would enroll for services without fully understanding what they were paying for.
Frere also admitted that, to conceal the proceeds of his wire fraud scheme, he began in 2015 transferring large sums of cash he received through the scheme to overseas bank accounts.
Frere was arrested Dec. 5, 2018, at SFO as he attempted to board a flight to Cancun, Mexico. He is now free on bond pending sentencing, scheduled for March 27.
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