A federal grand jury in New Haven, Connecticut, has returned a seven-count indictment in opposition to Howard Chambers, a 32-year-old Jamaican citizen residing in Waterbury.
Chambers stands accused of partaking in a fraudulent sweepstakes scheme that primarily focused aged victims throughout the US, ensuing within the defrauding of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.
Arrest and Plea in Court docket
The indictment, issued on October 17, led to the arrest of Chambers on Thursday.
Studies are that he appeared earlier than US Justice of the Peace Choose Maria E. Garcia in New Haven, the place he entered pleas of not responsible to the fees.
Chambers was subsequently launched on a US$150,000 bond and positioned below house detention with digital monitoring, pending trial.
Announcement by U.S. authorities
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Legal professional for the District of Connecticut, alongside Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Cost of the US Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, collectively made this announcement.
Sweepstakes rip-off operation
The indictment alleges that Chambers, alongside together with his associates, has been orchestrating a sweepstakes rip-off since at the very least 2018.
The operation aimed to deceive primarily aged victims into offering cash.
Initially, the scammers contacted victims through phone, informing them of their supposed winnings from Publishers Clearing Home sweepstakes.
Victims had been then instructed to pay numerous charges and taxes to assert their winnings.
The misleading scheme
It’s reported that after the preliminary telephone contact, Chambers and his accomplices despatched victims fraudulent paperwork, together with a “successful notification” letter from Publishers Clearing Home and a letter from the Inside Income Service, falsely asserting that taxes had been due on their winnings.
As instructed, victims despatched money, cash orders, or checks through mail to a number of addresses in Connecticut and throughout the US.
Cash laundering allegations
Moreover, the indictment alleges that Chambers and his associates laundered the cash obtained from victims by funneling it by way of numerous accounts below totally different firm names.
One such entity was a restricted legal responsibility firm registered in Connecticut, with Chambers serving as its managing member and agent.
The indictment reveals that the scammers typically exploited victims as intermediaries, tasking them with receiving cash from different victims and redirecting it to members of the scheme.
“For instance, at the very least one sufferer acquired checks and money within the mail from folks she believed had been ‘sponsors’ who had been serving to her pay the charges to obtain her winnings, however really had been different victims. The sufferer deposited the checks into her checking account, withdrew money, and mailed the money to varied addresses as directed by the conspirators,” the indictment mentioned.
Fees and most penalties
Chambers now faces one depend of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, 5 counts of mail fraud, and one depend of conspiracy to commit cash laundering.
Every of those offenses carries a most time period of imprisonment of 20 years.
US Legal professional Avery emphasizes that an indictment represents allegations, not proof of guilt. Within the eyes of the regulation, a defendant is presumed harmless except confirmed responsible past an affordable doubt.
Elder Fraud Hotline and assist
In response to the rising problem of monetary fraud focusing on seniors, the Justice Division has established a Nationwide Elder Fraud Hotline.
This hotline provides help to seniors who could have fallen sufferer to such schemes. Skilled case managers workers the hotline, offering personalised assist to callers. They assist in reporting suspected fraud to related businesses and supply sources and referrals to different vital providers.
When relevant, case managers will even full criticism varieties with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Web Crime Grievance Heart (IC3) for internet-facilitated crimes and submit client complaints to the Federal Commerce Fee on behalf of the caller. The toll-free quantity for the Hotline is 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).
