San Diego, California – Federal prosecutors in San Diego have charged 22 people in what they describe as a sweeping international fraud scheme that preyed on hundreds of older Americans through fake tech-support and refund scams.
According to an indictment unsealed Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, the alleged network spanned continents — with ringleaders in India and Dubai, and a laundering operation centered in San Diego. Investigators say the scheme targeted U.S. seniors and funneled millions of dollars overseas through a complex web of money mules and sham businesses.
At the center of it, prosecutors allege, was 41-year-old Victor Lee Marion, a San Diego resident accused of running the group’s domestic laundering cell since 2023. Marion allegedly coordinated payments from victims, recruited local co-conspirators through his business — Mecca Barbershop — and sent most of the money abroad…