Sign In
Free Newsletter
Missing Lutherville man charged in $50M telemarketing fraud scheme
A Lutherville man who was charged with mail fraud in connection with a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme has gone missing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Brian Keith Wallen faces 20 years in prison for his participation in the scam, in which he and other conspirators, acting through shell companies, received more than $50 million in payments after billing thousands of businesses and nonprofits for office supplies Wallen and his conspirators never ordered.
Wallen was reported missing on April 28, and he reportedly left a note referring to his death, according to U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein.
Wallen and other conspirators used a number of different company names and shell entities to hide the scam, which he helped operate from 2010 to 2014, according to a release. From January 2011 to June 2014, a Federal Trade Commission consumer protection database documented more than 500 complaints related to the fraudulent companies.
Wallen oversaw the Reisterstown-based operations of the scheme and “personally handled the accounts of large, repeat victims,” according to prosecutors. Charges against him were filed last week and unsealed Tuesday.
