Man pleads guilty to scam, returns money to victims

TAMPA -- More than a dozen elderly victims will receive part of $200,000 in restitution from a man who pleaded guilty today of managing a telemarketing lottery scam.

Vasilios "Billy" Kolitsidas, 38, was sentenced to just over 5 1/2 years in prison by U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. The judge gave Kolitsidas credit for having already served time in a Canadian prison on the charges of  conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and money laundering while awaiting extradition to the United States.

He must serve another 21 months to complete his sentence. As part of a plea agreement, Kolitsidas turned over $200,000 in restitution. David T. Weisbrod, Kolitsidas' attorney, gave Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Trezevant a check for the money at the end of today's sentencing.

Kolitsidas pleaded guilty to his role in a sweepstakes and lottery scheme that scammed more than $1.6-million from victims across Florida and in South Carolina. An indictment charges him and Serges Jacques Descent, also known as Jack Descent, with convincing 14 elderly people to turn over thousands of dollars in fees and taxes between October 1998 and September 1999.

"I would like to take this time to apologize sincerely to all the victims and their families that were involved, and for all their unjustly suffering due to my actions that were wrong and senseless,"  Kolitsidas said.

Employees for the telemarketing firm would call elderly people who had either previously entered sweepstakes contest or been the victims of fraud. They would tell them they were calling on behalf of the Canadian government, which was trying to disburse lottery winnings. The catch: taxes and fees had to be paid first.

The men would have the victims send checks to an address in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the telemarketers worked, and to a St. Petersburg address listed in court papers as 3235 Fairfield Avenue S. The company name used at the St. Petersburg address was Group Crown International, Inc.

In one scam detailed in court papers, a telemarketer told 79-year-old Ada Korf that she had won more than $1-million from the Australian Lottery. She sent four checks totaling $429,000 to the St. Petersburg mailing address. The telemarketer told her if her bank asked why she was taking out such large amounts of money, she was to say she was investing in Florida real estate.

In addition to an immediate restitution payment, Kolitsidas must also forfeit about $337,000 in cash that he earned during the scheme.

Descent, the man who Kolitsidas said approached him about "investing" in his company, was found guilty by a jury in January 2001. Judge Moody sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

Kevin Graham, Times staff writer