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PHILADELPHIA — Rashell Ortiz, 23, of Grove City, Ohio, was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison for orchestrating an advance-fee fraud scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims through the fake sale of luxury handbags and other high-end goods, announced U.S. Attorney David Metcalf of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
U.S. District Judge Gerald J. Pappert also ordered Ortiz to serve three years of supervised release, pay $130,255 in restitution, and a $600 special assessment.
Ortiz was indicted in January 2024 on six counts of wire fraud and was convicted at trial in December 2024.
Between October 2019 and November 2021, Ortiz and her co-conspirator, Orvil Cataquet Jr., 25, of Syracuse, New York, falsely advertised discounted designer items—primarily handbags—on platforms like Poshmark and OfferUp. Posing as a woman offloading luxury goods during a divorce, Ortiz offered additional discounts for payments made through Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, CashApp, and Google Pay.
Once victims sent money, they received nothing in return, and communication was cut off. The pair defrauded over 300 people, including victims in the Philadelphia area, using the funds to support a lifestyle of food deliveries and video games.
Cataquet Jr. pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2023 and was sentenced in October 2024 to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $156,074 in restitution.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Newtown Square Resident Agency and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan Claiborne and Sarah Wolfe.
