Oregon Woman Charged with Mail Fraud After Allegedly Filing 20 Claims in Courts Statewide
An Oregon woman who filed 20 fraudulent small claims worth at least $190,000 in circuit courts throughout the state was arraigned in federal court on Monday.
Sharon Neal of Damascus is charged with five counts of mail fraud.
Court documents reveal that Neal filed the fraudulent claims between August 2018 and November 2022 on behalf of fictitious companies.
According to a news release by the Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office, Neal falsely alleged that victim companies provided her fictitious companies with low quality services and products or failed to provide such services and products.
Neal Sent Empty Envelopes
Neal filed certificates of service which included copies of signed and certified mail return receipts which falsely certified that she had served the claim and summons by certified mail on the victim companies. However, Neal sent them empty envelopes and her victims were unaware of any small claims that had been filed against them.
The victims did therefore not respond to the claims, enabling Neal to obtain default judgments and writs of garnishments which she presented to their banks, receiving checks for the relevant amounts.
Neal’s victims would only discover the small claims after receiving notifications of the garnished funds from their banks.
Neal appeared in the U.S. District Court in Portland on Monday and was arraigned and ordered released after pleading not guilty. Her four-day trial will begin on February 18, 2025. The case is being prosecuted by Andrew T. Ho, Assistant U.S. Attorney for Oregon.
Neal faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or three-years’ supervised release.
Sources & References
- Press Release from U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon