Texas Couple Gets 40 Years In Prision,COVID-19 Pyramid Scheme

On June 9th, a Texas couple was scheduled to serve 40 years in prison each for running a fraudulent referral pyramid scheme following their convictions on conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering charges in January 2026.

At the peak of the coronavirus pandemic that began spreading rapidly in 2020, Lashonda and Marlon Moore launched an investment fraud scheme, cheating struggling Americans out of $30 million, says Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. She says, “This fraud scheme exploited people out of their hard-earned money at a time when they needed it most. Opportunistic fraudsters like the Moores belong in prison.”

Another attorney spoke out, U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs for the Eastern District of Texas, said, “The Moores’ get-rich-quick scheme has earned them a well-deserved stay in federal prison. Playing games with other people’s money while promising unrealistic returns is stealing and will be prosecuted and punished.”

Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group. He gave a statement saying, “The mission of the USPIS continues to aggressively investigate such schemes and hold fraudsters fully accountable.”

Court documents and evidence presented in the trial, Frisco residents 38-year-old LaShonda Moore and 39-year-old Marlon Moore co-founded and ran a company they created called “Blessings in No Time,” also known as “BINT.” This was an illegal chain-referral pyramid scheme that targeted victims during the COVID-19 pandemic from June 2020 to June 21.BINT targeted and recruited victims with false and misleading promises through weekly live stream videos that were broadcast to thousands of participants across the United States during the COVID-19 shutdown. Victims were falsely promised 800% returns on each $1,400 investment and were guaranteed a refund if they were unsatisfied. This company was falsely presented as an altruistic invitation-only community to help others during the economic shutdown from covid 19.

The defendants structured BINT to operate on “playing boards” that had positions for participants on four levels: 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 “bless” or pay at least $1,400 to the participant in the Water position. A Water participant then received eight payments totaling more than $11,000. After a Water participant received his or her payment, other participants at lower levels would move up one level on the playing board and then be required to recruit new participants into the Fire positions to perpetuate the scheme. To profit from the investment scheme, the defendants placed themselves in positions on the playing boards so that they received many of the ultimate payments, and they otherwise diverted substantial money to themselves that was paid by the participants. The defendants’ pyramid scheme victimized more than 10,000 people across the country and inflicted more than $30 million in victim losses.