Financial Fraud: Evans Appiah Sentenced from an Internet Romance Scheme – Mail and Wire Fraud, Identity Theft

<h2 class&equals;"node-title">Silver Spring Man Sentenced To 7 Years In Federal Prison For Internet Romance Scheme In Which Victims Were Defrauded Of Over &dollar;300&comma;000<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"field field--name-field-pr-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"field&lowbar;&lowbar;items">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"field&lowbar;&lowbar;item even">&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Greenbelt&comma; <&sol;em><&sol;strong>Maryland – U&period;S&period; District Judge George J&period; Hazel sentenced  Evans Appiah&comma; a&sol;k&sol;a Sean Carter&comma; age 28&comma; of Silver Spring&comma; Maryland&comma; on September 12&comma; 2016&comma; to seven years in prison&comma; followed by four years of supervised release&comma; for conspiracy&comma; mail and wire fraud&comma; and aggravated identity theft arising from an internet romance scheme in which the victims were defrauded of more than &dollar;300&comma;000&period;  Judge Hazel also ordered Appiah to forfeit and pay restitution of &dollar;303&comma;800&period;11&comma; the total amount of the loss&period;  Appiah has been detained since Judge Hazel ordered that he be immediately taken into custody following the jury’s guilty verdict on May 4&comma; 2016&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J&period; Rosenstein&semi; Special Agent in Charge Andre R&period; Watson of U&period;S&period; Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s &lpar;ICE&rpar; Homeland Security Investigations &lpar;HSI&rpar;&semi; Special Agent in Charge James Murray of the United States Secret Service &&num;8211&semi; Washington Field Office&semi; and Chief J&period; Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to testimony at his six day trial&comma; Appiah and his co-conspirators searched online dating websites and initiated romantic relationships with male and female victims in order to obtain money from them&period;  The relationships began with emails and instant messaging and escalated to telephone calls and primarily text messages&period;  After gaining the victims trust&comma; Appiah and his co-conspirators began asking for money for a variety of reasons&comma; often invoking false stories and promises to convince the victims to send them money&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to evidence presented at trial&comma; from December 2013 through June 2015&comma; Appiah opened and maintained accounts in order to receive money from the victims&period;  Once the victims had deposited the funds requested by Appiah and the co-conspirators into the accounts controlled by Appiah&comma; he disbursed the money by transferring it to other accounts&comma; withdrawing cash&comma; and by purchasing goods for shipment to co-conspirators outside of the United States&period;  At least eleven confirmed victims were defrauded of more than &dollar;300&comma;000&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Appiah also used the name and identifying information of one victim in particular&comma; while depositing one of the victim cashier’s checks into his own bank account&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Today’s announcement is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President’s <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;amp&sol;" title&equals;"Financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"599">Financial<&sol;a> Fraud Enforcement Task Force&period;  The task force was established to wage an aggressive&comma; coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes&period;  With more than 20 federal agencies&comma; 94 U&period;S&period; attorneys’ offices&comma; and state and local partners&comma; it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement&comma; investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud&period;  Since its formation&comma; the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes&semi; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal&comma; state and local authorities&semi; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets&semi; and conducting outreach to the public&comma; victims&comma; financial institutions and other organizations&period;  Since fiscal year 2009&comma; the Justice Department has filed over 18&comma;000 financial fraud cases against more than 25&comma;000 defendants&period;  For more information on the task force&comma; please visit <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;stopfraud&period;gov&sol;"><u>www&period;StopFraud&period;gov<&sol;u><&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>United States Attorney Rod J&period; Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore&comma; the U&period;S&period; Secret Service and Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation&period;  Mr&period; Rosenstein thanked Assistant U&period;S&period; Attorney Thomas P&period; Windom and Special Assistant U&period;S&period; Attorney Jennifer L&period; Wine&comma; who prosecuted the case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-md&sol;pr&sol;silver-spring-man-sentenced-7-years-federal-prison-internet-romance-scheme-which-victims">Original PressReleases&&num;8230&semi;<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;

Financial FraudIdentity Theftwire fraud