A Texas couple was sentenced to 40 years in prison each for running an illegal pyramid scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic, scamming over 10,000 Americans out of $30 million.

LaShonda and Marlon Moore of Frisco, Texas, co-founded a chain-referral, pyramid scheme company called Blessings in No Time, which recruited participants across the United States through weekly livestream video broadcasts during the pandemic shutdown from June 2020 to June 2021, then asked them to invest money, according to the Justice Department’s report released Wednesday.

“This fraud scheme exploited people out of their hard-earned money at a time when they needed it most,” said DOJ Assistant Attorney General Andrew Tysen Duva. “Opportunistic fraudsters like the Moores belong in prison.”

The Moores promised participants they would receive 800% returns on $1,400 investments, guaranteeing refunds if investors weren’t satisfied. The couple advertised the company as a way for people to help their communities by paying what they called “blessings” of at least $1,400 to participants who had already joined – falsely promising that new participants’ payments would be returned eight-fold within a few weeks.

BINT operated on playing boards with participants positioned at levels with varied values: eight “fires,” four “winds,” two “earths” and one “water.” Once eight new participants were recruited to fill all eight “fire” positions on the playing board, each “fire” was directed to pay at least $1,400 to the person at the “water” position, who then received eight payments totaling more than $11,000.

After “water” – the highest level – participants received their payments, individuals positioned at lower levels moved up on the playing board and were required to recruit new participants into the entry-level “fire” positions to keep the scheme moving.

The Moores profited from putting themselves in positions on the playing board to receive most of the end payments.

Christopher Altemus, special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, said the scheme specifically targeted the African-American community and exploited both cultural trust and community ties. 

“The Moores took advantage of trust and hope during a time of national crisis, causing significant harm to thousands of victims,” Christina Foley, special agent in charge of the Secret Service Dallas Field Office, said in the DOJ’s report. Eric Shen, USPIS Criminal Investigation Group’s inspector in charge, noted extensive harm caused by “greed-driven, deceptive investments” that promise returns “too good to be true.”

The United States Postal Inspection Service, Secret Service and IRS investigated the case, prosecuted by DOJ trial attorneys Theodore Kneller and Adam Stempel and assistant U.S. attorney Abe McGlothin Jr.