Sandra Victoria Talento, of Spokane, Washington, and Henderson, Nevada, has been sentenced after having pleaded guilty in June 2019 to 19 counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Talento to a 70-month term of imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court supervision. Chief Judge Rice also ordered Talento to pay restitution in the amount of $2,100,000 and to forfeit $2,100,000.
According to information disclosed during court proceedings, Talento was an integral member of an extensive money laundering, insurance, and healthcare fraud scheme that staged over 30 accidents in Washington, Idaho, California, and Nevada that defrauded 19 insurance companies out of $5,659,026 by filing fraudulent bodily injury claims. According to prosecutors, Talento played an "injured victim" in at least 13 of the phony accidents and received medical treatment for fictitious or intentionally inflicted injuries to her head and other parts of her body. The government asserted that Talento also laundered proceeds generated by the scheme. In one 20 day period in 2013, prosecutors said, Talento deposited over $86,000 in fraud proceeds into her bank account. During a six-month period in 2014, she deposited over $270,000 in fraud proceeds into her account, according to the government.
William D. Hyslop, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said in a statement that, "Sandra Victoria Talento and her cohorts operated a sophisticated insurance/healthcare fraud and money laundering scheme over several years in four different states. Fraud schemes like these ultimately create higher insurance premiums for consumers. The sentence imposed reflects the significant role Talento played in the scheme and the fact that she profited from her fraud at the expense of the insurance and healthcare system."
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].