A Ripon man convicted in a counterfeiting scam is going to prison. The U.S. Department of Justice says 52 year old Robert James Zoellner was sentenced to a year and a half in federal prison and three years of extended supervision. Zoellner earlier pled guilty to one count of passing forged postal notes. According to a criminal complaint Zoellner acted as a middle man for a West African counterfeiter, using “mystery shopper” advertisements in newspapers and magazines to recruit unknowning individuals to cash hundreds of thousands of dollars in counterfeit postal notes and money orders. Investigators say the proceeds were forwarded to Zoellner who would wire the money to a contact in West Africa. The Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S Postal Service investigated the case.
