Man Tricked Into Stealing $4M From His Employer to ‘Save’ Woman From Fake New York Mobster: Prosecutors
Believing that he was rescuing a woman from a nefarious New York crime boss, a Maryland man quietly siphoned off money and gold bars from his employer over the course of three months in 2017.
But the supposed “crime boss” was actually one of three sons allegedly involved in a scheme with their parents to take the mark for more than $4 million with the help of one of the son's ex-wives and a “New York woman” who later married each other in an attempt to cover up their crimes.
The family spent their victim’s funds on, among other things, Rolexes and a Rolls Royce, and their spending habits eventually tipped off federal agents. When the family matriarch realized the authorities were aware of their scam, she went into survival mode—which, in Candy Evans’ case, meant jerry-rigging a marriage ceremony, drawing up a notarized letter exonerating the family of all guilt, and instructing everyone involved to lie to the FBI.
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None of it worked. On Tuesday, Evans and her husband, Archie Kaslov, were sentenced to prison over the sprawling extortion scheme they masterminded, bringing their three sons and an ex-daughter-in-law along for the ride.
It was a classic story: Maryland man meets New York woman on now-defunct advertising site Backpage. The woman, unnamed in a Justice Department press release, then targeted the man, also unidentified, for extortion, allegedly conspiring with Evans, Kaslov, and their brood to squeeze a treasure trove of cash and gold bars out of him.
The man dropped off the funds, including millions stolen from his Washington, D.C., employer between January and March 2017, at various places in New York, including a hotel room. He allegedly thought he was paying back the mob on behalf of the New York woman.
“In reality,” a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said, “all of the funds he embezzled and delivered to New York went to members of the Evans-Kaslov family.”
The Evans-Kaslov clan—including sons Tony John Evans, Corry Blue Evans, Robert Evans, and Robert’s common-law ex-wife Gina Russell—were all eventually indicted by a federal grand jury, along with their parents, in April 2018. It was not clear from Tuesday’s filing if the New York woman had been arrested or charged over the scheme.
Before their arrests, however, the family lived large. Kaslov would eventually admit to driving down to New York’s diamond district and spending “tens of thousands of dollars in criminal proceeds” on watches, including a number of Rolexes, according to the U.S. District Attorney. In May 2017, Kaslov also made a trip down to Texas, where he paid more than $300,000 in cash for a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead that he later sold, after being charged, in New Jersey for $120,000.
Evans, meanwhile, was getting antsy about an ongoing federal investigation into her family’s dealings. She told both the Maryland man and the New York woman to lie to agents who wanted to interview them. When that didn’t deter the probe, Evans told Gina Russell and the New York woman to get married.
They did. Evans later explained to investigators that she had proposed the union because she believed wedded couples cannot be forced to testify against one another. (This is partially true, but does not account for testimony about matters that took place before the marriage.)
Evans then “further panicked,” according to the Department of Justice, “and wanted a letter that would exonerate her, Kaslov, and their three sons from any involvement in the scheme to get money from the Maryland man.” She convinced Russell and the New York woman to sign a notarized, handwritten confession absolving the Evans-Kaslovs of any guilt.
But as federal agents closed in, executing search warrants at the family’s houses towards the end of 2017, Evans started throwing family members under the bus. In October, she told an FBI special agent heading up the case that Tony John Evans had run the extortion scheme, with help from Russell and the New York woman. Evans, Kaslov, and their other two sons were innocent, she insisted. She later admitted that was false.
Only one of the Evans-Kaslov crew has continued to protest his innocence. According to the Department of Justice, Corry Blue Evans, 29, has entered a not-guilty plea to charges that remain outstanding against him.
His older brothers have both admitted responsibility for their parts in the scam. Tony, 33, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to interference with interstate commerce by extortion in 2018. Robert, 34, awaits sentencing after issuing his own guilty plea to an identical charge last April.
Russell, 33, admitted guilt to the same extortion charge in 2019, and is also awaiting sentencing. It is unclear if she remains married to the New York woman.
For her part, Evans will serve 12 months and a day in prison after she pleaded guilty in Sept. 2020 to tampering with a witness by corrupt persuasion or misleading conduct. Kaslov was handed 30 months in prison after he admitted guilt in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Both will then be remanded to supervised release for three years.
As part of their respective plea agreements, Evans and Kaslov will also at some point have to pay back their swindled funds in restitution. Where they’ll each get $4,217,542 is another question entirely.
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