A Samoan woman will serve 98-months in federal prison in connection with a refund fraud scheme in California.
Sabrina Raylene Toilolo entered a plea agreement, with federal prosecutors in the U.S. Eastern District Court of California, in which she pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
She was sentenced by U.S District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta to seven years and two months in prison. She was also ordered to pay restitution of $1.10 million.
Court documents state that the defendant participated in a merchant refund‑fraud scheme, in which her co-defendants are her father, Talalima Toilolo, and two others, Johnathon Ward and Monica Nunes.
The prosecutors said the fraud in this case was extensive, resulting in loss in excess of $1 million. Ms. Toilolo is personally accountable for $1,106,679.86 in loss.
Between July 2017 and September 2019, Sabrina Toilolo, Ward, Nunes, and Talalima Toilolo, conspired to defraud financial institutions by exploiting the merchant refund process used by businesses and retail establishments to refund customers for returns, reimbursements, and erroneous charges. In total, the conspirators attempted $3.8 million in fraudulent transactions.
The defendants committed this scheme by stealing or purchasing point-of-sale (POS) terminals used by businesses to process bankcard transactions. Sabrina Toilolo supplied access devices and executed fraudulent refunds using her own POS terminals.
