LaShonda Moore and Marlon Moore of Frisco, Texas, were convicted in federal court of running an illegal pyramid scheme that targeted victims during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to court documents and evidence presented at trial.
Prosecutors said the Moores co-founded and operated BINT, short for “Blessings in No Time,” a chain-referral scheme that ran from June 2020 to June 2021. The operation used weekly livestream broadcasts to recruit thousands of participants nationwide during pandemic shutdowns, falsely promising 800% returns on a $1,400 investment and guaranteeing refunds to dissatisfied participants.
The Moores portrayed BINT as an invitation-only, community-based effort to help people financially during the economic downturn. Participants were told their payments, described as “blessings,” would be repaid eightfold within weeks. In reality, the program relied on continuous recruitment of new members to generate payouts, prosecutors said…