December 10, 2014
Klein Sentenced up to 10 Years of Prison for
Duping Sports Professionals
Carson City, NV – Nevada Attorney General Catherine
Cortez Masto announced the sentencing Tuesday in Washoe District Court of a
felon who duped sports professionals into purchasing bogus shares of NBA teams
and season tickets.
Megan
Klein, 39, of Carson City, was sentenced by Carson City District Judge James
Wilson to two and a half up to 10 years in prison and was ordered to pay
$20,000 in restitution.
“Criminals
will prey upon people’s love of professional sports for their own financial
gain,” said Masto.
Klein acted
as an accomplice for Los Angeles resident George Jones, who was charged in Los
Angeles in March with fraud including grand theft and identity theft offenses
following an investigation by authorities in California. She told
investigators she became associated with Jones after answering an on-line ad he
posted looking for an assistant. Klein allegedly used two false
identities to arrange the sales of fraudulent tickets; communicating with
victims between June 2013 and January 2014.
Klein is
charged for defrauding a sports marketing agent and an attorney who wired Jones
a combined $350,000 to his fictitious company bank accounts on the belief their
professional athlete clients were going to purchase minority shares of the
Miami Heat and/or 2013-14 season tickets in premium seating areas.
Federal,
state and local police in California investigated Jones, after being tipped by
the Miami Heat that Jones allegedly tried to sell team shares and season
tickets to two men who represented high profile NBA and/or NFL athletes.
Nevada Attorney General Investigators began investigating Klein after
authorities in California tipped them off that Klein was allegedly involved in
the scam. California authorities said the victims never saw Jones or Klein in
person, and only dealt with them on-line or on the telephone.
At the time
of the NBA scam Klein had been on probation after the Nevada Attorney General’s
Office prosecuted her for a 2012 insurance fraud felony. In that instance Klein
had been running her family’s Reno auto repair business where she charged
customers for repairs never performed. The business later closed.
The case was
prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Ronda Clifton.
Click the
hyperlinks to read the affidavit of probable cause in support
of criminal complaint,
criminal complaint, and a previous press release.
MEGAN
KLEIN
(Photo
courtesy of Carson City Sheriff’s Office)
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