An Ohio woman was sentenced to 20 months in prison by a federal judge for defrauding hundreds of victims in an advance-fee scheme involving the purported sale of high-end handbags and other luxury items.
The Plumstead Township Police assisted federal authorities in this case.
Rashell Ortiz, 23, of Grove City, Ohio, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert to 20 months in prison, three years supervised release, restitution of $130,255 and a $600 special assessment for defrauding hundreds of victims in an advance-fee scheme involving the purported sale of high-end handbags and other luxury items, announced United States Attorney David Metcalf.
Ortiz was charged by indictment in January 2024 with six counts of wire fraud and in December was convicted of all charges at trial, a spokesperson said.
As proven at trial, from October 2019 to November 2021, Ortiz and her boyfriend, Orvil Cataquet Jr., 25, of Syracuse, New York, marketed items, predominantly luxury purses, through online sales platforms like Poshmark and Offer Up. Throughout the scheme, they posed as a young female who sold the bags at reduced prices because she was going through a divorce and wanted to get rid of her ex-husband’s gifts, authorities said.
In all, Ortiz and Cataquet Jr. defrauded more than 300 victims, some of whom resided in the greater Philadelphia region out of approximately $130,225, which they used to fund their lifestyle of frequent food deliveries and video games.
They offered interested buyers a discount to conduct the transaction through a third-party money transfer app such as Zelle, CashApp, Venmo, Google Pay, or PayPal, according to court records.
Once they received the victims’ money, they failed to deliver the goods and eventually ceased contact.
Cataquet Jr. pleaded guilty to wire fraud last year and was sentenced in October to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $156,074 in restitution.
This case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Fort Washington Resident Agency, with assistance from the Plumstead Township Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Meghan Claiborne and Sarah Wolfe.
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