Boiler room co-conspirator to pay $14 million and serve 11 years

A 55-year-old woman has been sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison for her role in a boiler room scheme authorities says defrauded victims of $14 million during her time of involvement.

Rachel Mai Winslow of Roswell, Georgia, must also pay $14.4 million in restitution according to a transcript of the hearing on the federal court system’s online system.

She was convicted in November for conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven sentenced her in Tampa.

Winslow, who is also known as Pamela Henderson, is at least the second person to receive prison time as part of a prosecution of the scheme. The other was 63-year-old Pasco County real estate executive Frank Sebastian Visicaro, who, in March was sentenced to two years in prison and $1.09 million for his role.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the testimony and evidence presented at Winslow's trial, here is what happened:

Winslow was part of an international conspiracy that duped foreign investors into believing they were buying shares of prominent U.S. companies including Facebook, Chesapeake Energy and Toys "R" Us.

The investments were worthless, though.

The money, once received from the victims, went to shell companies that had been created to process the money. Proceeds were then wired back overseas to keep up the scam, going toward paying the boiler room employees and other expenses.

What was left was wired into accounts belonging to those involved as compensation, including overseas accounts belonging to Winslow, who was living in Barcelona, Spain and Miami at the time.

Visicaro, who plead guilty in 2021, used his real company — Buy and Sell Real Estate Inc. — and two shell companies — Buy and Sell Realty and Investment LLC and Clear View Group LLC — to launder the money.

In all, the boiler room defrauded victims out of more than $14 million during the period when Winslow was involved, at least $4.7 million of that money passed through bank accounts she controlled.

According to the superseding indictment filed in May 2020 that names Winslow and Visicaro, the fraud began at an unknown date, but not later than March 2009, and lasted until December 2013.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security investigations, the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigations division and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachelle DesVaux Bedke and David W.A. Chee were the prosecutors.