Seven Years for the Shell Account Guy Behind a Costa Rica Sweepstakes Call Center

Yeah. If you have to pay to get your prize, you didn't win a prize.

So what happened?

On September 17, 2025, Cesar Rafael Coello Dominguez, 39, of Heredia, Costa Rica, was sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. He also got three years of supervised release, was ordered to forfeit $12 million and to pay restitution to victims. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced it the next day. He had pleaded guilty on May 21, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.

According to the DOJ:

• The scheme was mostly based in Costa Rica and ran call centers targeting victims across the U.S.
• From September 2019 to January 2023, Coello Dominguez defrauded and laundered at least $12 million from more than 400 victims, many elderly or otherwise vulnerable.
• Callers told victims they had won a nationwide sweepstakes that required them to pre-pay taxes and fees.
• When victims figured out it was a scam, the callers often contacted them again, this time pretending to be lawyers or U.S. law enforcement, to squeeze out even more money.
• Coello Dominguez regularly traveled to the U.S. to set up dozens of shell bank accounts. He used them to collect millions in stolen funds and send the money back to Costa Rica.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated, with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

Here's the thing ...

The second call is the cruelest part.

You've just realized you got scammed. You're angry, embarrassed and scared. Then a "lawyer" or "cop" calls offering to help. And you pay again.

That's not a sales tactic. That's kicking someone while they're down.

And notice who went to prison for seven years. Not a caller. The guy who opened the bank accounts. The money side gets hit hard in these cases. Am I right?

Why should you care?

Prize promotions are a legitimate marketing vehicle. But "pay a fee to collect your prize" is one of the oldest scam lines around, and federal prosecutors treat it that way.

If your campaign asks winners for money up front, stop and rethink it.

What to do this week

• Never charge winners taxes or fees to claim a prize over the phone.
• Never have callers pose as lawyers, police or government officials.
• Don't follow up on complaints with a new pitch to the same person.
• Know who owns the bank accounts your payments flow into.

It's simple. Prizes are free, or they aren't prizes. That's it.