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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BWAC who wrote (51853)	9/10/2001 3:57:54 PM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

When are they going to get OUR SCHEMERS? Monday September 10, 3:42 pm Eastern Time 21 indicted in scheme to rig McDonald's games JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept 10 (Reuters) - Twenty-one people have been indicted for allegedly defrauding McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - news) restaurants of millions of dollars by rigging the fast-food chain's popular game promotions, including ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire,'' U.S. prosecutors said on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT The indictments, returned in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida, were an extension of charges and arrests by the FBI last month in what authorities called a ``nationwide scheme to defraud the McDonald's Corp. and its customers by fraudulently manipulating McDonald's promotional prize contests.'' Jerome Jacobson, director of security at Simon Marketing Inc., allegedly embezzled more than $20 million worth of winning game pieces from his employer as far back as the late 1980s, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Simon Marketing, headquartered in Los Angeles, was contracted by McDonald's to administer the games. Prosecutors said Jacobson allegedly distributed winning game pieces to others who redeemed them or recruited friends, relatives and associates to represent themselves as legitimate winners of up to $1 million. The FBI announced the arrests of Jacobson and seven others on Aug. 21 and said at the time it was possible more people would be charged in the scheme. The indictments announced on Monday charged Jacobson, 58, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, with one count of conspiracy and eight counts of mail fraud. Robin Lisa Colombo, 40, of Orlando, Florida; William Fisher, 62, of Jacksonville, Florida; Gloria Brown, 43, of Jacksonville, Florida; Andrew Glomb, 58, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and James Faherty, 40, of Orlando, Florida, each face one count of conspiracy and varying counts of mail fraud. Fifteen others face one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The FBI investigation -- dubbed ``Final Answer'' after the catch-phrase made popular by host Regis Philbin on the TV game show ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire'' -- looked into at least nine games alleged to have been fixed. They were: ``Monopoly Game at McDonald's''; ``Hatch, Match and Win''; ``When the USA Wins, You Win''; ``The Deluxe Monopoly Game''; ``The Monopoly and More Game at McDonald's''; ``Disney's Masterpiece Collection Trivia Challenge at McDonald's''; ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire Game''; ``Win on the Spot''; and, ``Pick Your Prize Monopoly.'' Conviction on a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud could bring a penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution. The charges were filed in Jacksonville because the investigation was initiated by FBI's Jacksonville office.