A 41-year-old Jamaican has been sentenced to 16 years in jail for his position in a fraudulent sweepstakes scheme that focused aged victims in america.
The USA Division of Justice (DOJ) says Damone Oakley pleaded responsible in July 2023 to 2 counts of mail and two counts of wire fraud. Oakley, of St James, had been extradited to america in 2022.
The DOJ stated that from at the very least 2010 by means of 2019, Oakley participated in a fraudulent sweepstakes scheme that focused aged and weak victims.
It stated his victims obtained mailings, textual content messages or cellphone calls wherein they had been falsely instructed that that they had received hundreds of thousands of {dollars} and luxurious automobiles in sweepstakes, however first wanted to pay taxes and charges to say their winnings.
The DOJ stated Oakley used phoney names throughout the scheme, together with “Officer Alex Logan” and “Officer Stan Valentine,” and instructed his victims on how you can ship their cash, and to whom the funds must be despatched.
His victims had been positioned all through america, and used wire transfers, direct financial institution deposits, the US Postal Service and personal business mail carriers to ship cash on to Oakley in addition to to people in america and elsewhere who served as intermediaries and transmitted the cash to Oakley, the DOJ stated.
Along with sending money or wire transfers, it stated Oakley’s victims had been directed to buy electronics, jewellery and clothes, which had been despatched to mail forwarding companies in Florida, after which on to Oakley in Jamaica.
The victims by no means obtained any “winnings,” stated the DOJ, including that Oakley’s victims misplaced a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} throughout the scheme.
“The Justice Division’s Shopper Safety Department and its legislation enforcement companions will vigorously pursue people who prey on weak and aged victims by means of fraudulent schemes,” stated principal deputy assistant legal professional basic Brian M Boynton, head of the Justice Division’s Civil Division.
“By way of our Nationwide Elder Fraud Hotline, we establish perpetrators of those schemes and prioritize the pursuit of those that intentionally goal weak customers, who usually can least afford to maintain monetary losses.”
US Lawyer Gerard M. Karam stated “This sentence displays our workplace’s dedication to defending essentially the most weak members of our society and punishing those that have interaction in one of these behaviour.
“Working along with our expert and devoted legislation enforcement companions, Oakley was held accountable for his crimes,” he added.
Inspector in Cost Eric Shen, of the US Postal Inspection Companies (USPIS) Felony Investigations Group, stated “There was a time when scammers working past our borders felt they may function with impunity. These days are gone.
“Postal inspectors observe down these scammers regardless of the place they’re. And with our Division of Justice companions’ extradition powers, scammers are delivered to america to face the music. On this case, it’s to the tune of 192 months in jail.”
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