wire fraud

We’ve looked into the most recent mortgage and loan closing scams so you know what steps to take to protect your money and even your property. These scams range from fraudulent wire transfer instructions to false mortgage relief offers. For most people, purchasing a home represents their largest financial transaction, so it’s important to be aware of the tricks scammers might use to take from you. They are after the funds you have been accumulating for a down payment and closing charges for years. They will target your equity and possibly your home if you face foreclosure. You can prevent ... Read more

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced that Barrie Osborne, 76, of Celebration, Florida, was charged by Indictment with with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $7 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and pre-pandemic Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, and to launder the proceeds of the illegal scheme. The Indictment alleges that, beginning in about January ... Read more

Another Tech Support Fraudster Sentenced To Prison An American citizen who spent over a year running the day-to-day operations of a fraudulent tech support call center in Costa Rica is heading to prison. Michael Cary Lawing, 34, of Lincolnton, North Carolina, has been sentenced to serve 18 months behind bars for his role as the CEO of ABC Repair Tech (ABC) from 2015 to 2016. Lawing pleaded guilty in October 2018 to a one-count felony information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to court documents, Lawing’s company was affiliated with another fraudulent tech support business in South ... Read more

Ex-White House Military Aide and Maryland Businessman Found Guilty For Operating Fraudulent EB-5 Visa Scheme NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that a federal jury returned guilty verdicts against two Maryland men for defrauding victims of over $15 million during the defendants’ operation of the New Orleans EB-5 Regional Center after Hurricane Katrina. After a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Greg G. Guidry, the defendants, Maryland businessman WILLIAM B. “BART” HUNGERFORD, JR., age 58, and TIMOTHY O. MILBRATH, age 63, a former U.S. Air Force colonel who served as a White House military aide for three ... Read more

Former Hollywood Digital Marketing Executive and Professional Poker Player Charged with Embezzling $22 Million from His Employer LOS ANGELES – A former executive at StyleHaul Inc., a digital marketing company that represents “influencers” on YouTube and Instagram, has been arrested pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment charging him with embezzling $22 million from his employer and using the stolen money for buy-ins at professional poker tournaments, crypto-currency investing, and other personal expenses. Dennis Blieden, 29, formerly of Santa Monica and now residing in Nevada, was taken into federal custody yesterday in Las Vegas. The indictment, which a federal grand ... Read more

Two Defendants Indicted in Brooklyn Federal Court for Foreign Exchange Trading Scams Defendants Stole Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars by Luring Korean-American Investors into Bogus Foreign Exchange Trading Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging Tae Hung Kang, also known as “Kevin Kang,” and John Won with conspiring to commit wire and securities fraud, securities fraud, and conspiring to commit money laundering, in connection with schemes involving foreign exchange trading that targeted members of the Korean-American community. Kang was also charged with substantive wire fraud. The defendants were arrested today and are scheduled to be ... Read more

Former CFO Of Granite Falls Industrial Contractor Sentenced To More Than Six Years In Prison For Embezzling Nearly $6 Million United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the sentencing of KIRSTEN ANN TJOSAAS, 38, for embezzling $5,773,410 from Fagen, Inc. (Fagen), an industrial contracting company for which she served as Chief Financial Officer. TJOSAAS pleaded guilty on May 6, 2016, to wire fraud and money laundering. According to her guilty plea, between 2006 and November 2015, TJOSAAS abused her authority as Corporate Controller and Chief Financial Officer of Fagen to issue at least 19 checks and make wire transfers ... Read more

Silver Spring Man Sentenced To 7 Years In Federal Prison For Internet Romance Scheme In Which Victims Were Defrauded Of Over $300,000 Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel sentenced  Evans Appiah, a/k/a Sean Carter, age 28, of Silver Spring, Maryland, on September 12, 2016, to seven years in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft arising from an internet romance scheme in which the victims were defrauded of more than $300,000.  Judge Hazel also ordered Appiah to forfeit and pay restitution of $303,800.11, the total amount ... Read more

Long Island Attorney Is Sentenced To 28 Months In Prison For Stealing $1.3 Million From Trust Fund Clients Trust Funds Diverted to Pay for Car, High-End Stereo Equipment, Home Renovations and International Vacations CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – Earlier today, David Bodian, a Long Island attorney, was sentenced at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, to 28 months in prison following his March 2016 guilty plea to wire fraud for stealing more than $1.3 million from a trust fund for which he was the trustee.  The sentencing proceeding was held before United States District Judge Arthur D. Spatt.  As ... Read more

Volkswagen Engineer Pleads Guilty for His Role in Conspiracy to Cheat U.S. Emissions Test James Robert Liang, a Volkswagen engineer, pleaded guilty today for his role in a nearly 10-year conspiracy to defraud U.S. regulators and U.S. Volkswagen customers by implementing software specifically designed to cheat U.S. emissions tests in hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen “clean diesel” vehicles, the Justice Department announced today.  Liang’s plea agreement provides that he will cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation. Liang, 62, of Newbury Park, California, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, to commit wire ... Read more

Washington Man Arrested, Charged with Defrauding Alaskans Out of Approximately $2.7 Million His Wife was also Arrested, Charged with Social Security Fraud Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a Washington man has been charged in Alaska with 11 counts of wire fraud and eight counts of money laundering.  His wife has been charged with one count of social security fraud in Washington. They were both arrested this morning in Washington. Floyd Jay Mann, Jr., 55, of Puyallup, Washington, is charged in a 19-count indictment returned in Anchorage with a scheme to defraud victims in Alaska.  ... Read more

Man Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To 46 Months In Prison In Connection With $1.5 Million Ponzi Scheme Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that WILLIAM J. WELLS was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 46 months in prison for securities and wire fraud charges stemming from his scheme to defraud more than 30 investors, including friends, colleagues, and family, of more than $1.5 million through a Ponzi-like scheme, over the course of nearly six years until his arrest in October 2015.  WELLS was arrested on October 1, 2015, and pled ... Read more

Natick Attorney and Former City of Worcester Housing Official Indicted on Fraud Charges BOSTON – A real estate developer and a former City of Worcester housing official were charged in U.S. District Court in Worcester this week in connection with a $2.3 million fraud scheme relating to the redevelopment of a multi-family property in Worcester. James E. Levin, 57, of Natick, a real estate developer and attorney, and Jacklyn M. Sutcivni, 43, of Dracut, a former employee of the City of Worcester’s Housing Development Office and Executive Office of Economic Development, were indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire ... Read more

Orange County Man Pleads Guilty to Owning Fake Law Firms that Falsely Promised to Help Struggling Homeowners SANTA ANA, California – A Brea man pleaded guilty this morning to federal charges related to his role as the owner and operator of a multi-million dollar fraudulent mortgage modification scheme that posed as a successful law firm to defraud struggling homeowners. Bryan D’Antonio, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his role as owner and operator of Rodis Law Group (RLG) and America’s Law Group (ALG). D’Antonio pleaded guilty before United States District Judge ... Read more

Prime Contractor Employee At U.S. Military Bases Admits $1.4 Million Fraud And Taking Kickbacks NEWARK, N.J. – A Pennsylvania man employed as a regional manager for a contractor involved with construction projects at Picatinny Arsenal (PICA) and at Joint Base McGuire-Dix- Lakehurst (Ft. Dix) admitted today his role in a fraud scheme that caused losses of $1.4 million, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. James Conway, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud and one count of accepting unlawful kickbacks. According to ... Read more

Northern Michigan Woman Charged WIth Wire Fraud And Money Laundering In Multi-Million Dollar Scheme To Defraud Sarah Frances Bolhuis Has Agreed To Plead Guilty For Her Role In A $7.5 Million Scheme           GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — Sarah Frances Bolhuis, 70, of Antrim County, Michigan, was charged with two felonies in connection with a scheme to defraud others of their money, U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles, Jr. announced today. Federal investigators believe that more than 50 individuals in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Florida may have fallen victim to the fraud and collectively lost more than $5 million in the scheme. ... Read more

Michael Danilovich Sentenced To 25 Years For Racketeering, Health Care Fraud, Securities Fraud, Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, And Money Laundering Racketeering Conviction Included Largest No-Fault Insurance Fraud Scheme Ever Charged Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MICHAEL DANILOVICH was sentenced today to 25 years in prison in connection with his conviction for 16 counts of racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, health care fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering charges following a five-week jury trial.  The jury convicted DANILOVICH of racketeering arising out of his operation, from 2007 through 2012, of ... Read more

Uniontown man sentenced to nearly five years in prison for defrauding investors out of $5.6 million A Uniontown man was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for operating a scheme in which 19 investors lost approximately $5.6 million, law enforcement officials said. Geoffrey W. Nehrenz, 37, previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Boyko sentenced Nehrenz to 55 months in prison and ordered him to pay $5.6 million in restitution. Nehrenz promoted and sold investment contracts to clients through Keystone Capital Management, LLC (“KCM”) an investment adviser company ... Read more

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Wayne Shelby Simmons, 62, of Annapolis, Maryland, a former Fox News commentator who has falsely claimed he spent 27 years working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), pleaded guilty today to major fraud against the government, wire fraud, and a firearms offense. “Wayne Simmons is a convicted felon with no military or intelligence experience,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Simmons admitted he attempted to con his way into a position where he would have been called on to give real intelligence advice in a war zone.  His fraud cost the ... Read more

Former Oklahoma State Senator Sentenced to Over 3 Years For $1.8 Million in Wire Fraud and Tax Evasion Ricky L. Brinkley TULSA, Okla.—Former Oklahoma State Senator Ricky L. Brinkley was sentenced today to serve 37 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining over $1.8 million dollars from the Better Business Bureau and for tax evasion. In addition to the prison term, United States District Court Judge Claire V. Eagan ordered Brinkley to pay $1,829,033.86 representing proceeds of the wire fraud scheme. United States Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. of the Northern District of Oklahoma; FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott ... Read more