(Image Source: Mrsunitedstates)


BY RICHARD LAYCOCK

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

Former beauty queen. Devout Mormon. Stay at home mother of six. And online fraud mastermind? Yahoo!’s Trending Now says former Mrs. Nevada Juliette Kimoto is being investigated by the FTC over an online marketing scam.

“Juliette Kimoto, who is a mother of six, allegedly conned tens of thousands of people out of more than $30 million in online fraud schemes. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Kimoto owned four Web businesses including a bogus work-at-home program, a fake government grants service, and a dietary supplement company that falsely said it was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey.”

Unfortunately this is not the first time the Kimoto family has been involved in online scams. Juliette’s husband, Kyle Kimoto -- former ‘husband of the year’ -- ranks on Forbes’ list of longest white-collar prison sentences.

“Kimoto, 33, was convicted of a telemarketing scam he ran through his Utah company, Assail Inc. The government estimated he made over 12 million-phone calls to consumers with weak credit histories, attempting to sign them up for a credit MasterCard… An Illinois federal judge sent him to prison for 29 years and two months and ordered him to pay $35 million.”

But in an interview with the Daily Finance, Mrs. Kimoto says she was unaware of the shady goings on claiming that it was her husband behind the whole thing.

“Before Kyle left for prison, he started a new Internet marketing business... Because of the civil settlement he'd signed, he opened it up in my name. Between soccer practice and coming home to get the kids one day, I signed the papers. … If you asked me what they did there, I don't even know. I've never worked for a company other than my dad's dry cleaner.”

The Daily Mail quotes the associate director of the FTC's Division of Marketing Practice,
Lois Greisman, who says Kimoto will have to pay back $90,000  in fees. As for the rest of that money...

“‘You can't get more money from someone than they have. We will absolutely take everything we can, like the piano, and the car, if it exists, but if the money was spent on trips to Vegas or gambling, there's no longer anything tangible to be had,’ Ms Gruisman said.”

The FTC cannot send people to prison and is trying to partner with criminal law enforcement in order to prosecute Mrs. Kimoto.