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'Bitcoin Beautee' In MD Admits To Role In $1.89B Cryptocurrency Fraud Scheme
A Maryland woman went under the name of “Bitcoin Beautee” during her role alongside two others in a Cryptocurrency fraud scheme that netted more than $1.89 billion, she admitted in US District Court on Monday, Jan. 29.
Brenda Chunga, 43, of Severna Park, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud for her role as a promoter of HyperFund, also known as HyperTech, HyperCapital, HyperVerse, and HyperNation, US Attorney Erek Barron announced.
The plea came just four days after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Sam Lee, 35, an Australian citizen…
Former Social Media Influencer In MD Gets Prison Time For $1.2M COVID Scheme
A former social media influencer from Maryland is heading to federal prison for his role in a $1.2 million COVID scheme involving wire fraud and money laundering.
Denish Sahadevan, aka “Danny Devan,” 32, of Potomac, Maryland, was sentenced on Tuesday, Jan. 9 to three years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, authorities said.
‘Danny Devan’ gained a TikTok following for his financial advice regarding stocks and cryptocurrency:
@.dannydevvan
♬ original sound - Stocks • Crypto • Money
The …
Man Returned $300K Of Items To Home Depots That He Never Paid For, Including MD Stores: Feds
A Connecticut man is accused of ripping off nearly $300,000 from more than two dozen Home Depot stores across eight states, including Maryland, authorities said.
Henrique Costa-Mota, age 26, of West Hartford, is charged with conspiracy and wire fraud in the scheme that he allegedly ran from June 2021 until February 202, the US Attorney for Rhode Island said.
Costa-Mota is accused of going to Home Depot locations across the Northeast dressed as a contractor. He would walk in empty-handed, take several doors from the back of the store, and then "return" them to a customer service …
Maryland Man Admits To Conning Customers Out Of $2.1M By Substituting Dirt, Debris For Scrap
The owner of a New Jersey-based scrap metal company told a customer that dirt and debris found packed into a container shipped to Korea that was supposed to hold aluminum scrap was a mistake, authorities said.
Turns out it wasn’t.
Creed White, 64, of Freeland, Maryland, admitted in federal court in Camden, NJ, this week that he scammed a dozen or so businesses out of more than $2 million, authorities said on Thursday, Aug. 3.
Using the name “Dan Stein,” White contacted one of the victims through an Internet message board on behalf of his Camden-based company American Scrap company, a compl…
Mastermind Of Historic $175M Psychic Mail Scam Convicted, Feds Cite More Than 1M Victims
The mastermind of a mass-mailing scam that stole $175 million from more than a million victims, most of them elderly or ailing, was convicted by a federal jury in New York City.
Patrice Runner, a 57-year-old Canadian and French citizen, directed a ruthless psychic mail scheme for over two decades, beginning in 1994, the jurors found.
It was one of the largest -- if not the largest -- scam of its kind ever, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday, June 16, in announcing the verdict reached a day earlier on Long Island.
Runner sent mailings to millions of Americans that claimed t…
Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam
A former New Jersey couple and a Nigerian national scammed more than 100 lonely hearts out of $4.5 million in an elaborate online romance scheme, federal authorities charged.
Martins Inalegwu, 34, of Philadelphia and Steincy Mathieu, 26, of Brooklyn cooked up the plot with Moses Chukwuebuka Alexander and several of his Nigerian brethren, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges.
Together, they trolled online dating and social media sites for willing marks, whom they “wooed with words of love” on the phone and in emails, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
T…
Heard But Not Seen: Nigerian National Nabbed In $250,000 Audiobooks Scheme, NJ Feds Say
A Nigerian national living in Bangladesh contracted with more than 600 voice actors to produce audiobooks of written works that he didn't hold the rights to, federal authorities in New Jersey charged.
Anyanwu Benjamin Chizitere, 30, of Enugu, Nigeria, was part of a group that collected more than $250,000 by infringing on the copyright of a Newark-based company and its authors, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
Chizitere worked for a financial services business that provided online money transfer and digital payment services to the company, the U.S. attorney said.
He po…
Fraudster Admits To Posing As Bail Bondsman As Part Of $840K Elder Fraud Scam In Maryland
Authorities announced that a 64-year-old man has admitted to his role in an $800,000 elder fraud scam where he targeted victims in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and the surrounding regions.
Michael Odell Anderson, 64, of Crystal Beach, Florida, and Dun Lorring, Virginia, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in relation to his participation in an elder fraud scam, the Department of Justice announced this week.
Between April 2020 and December 2020, officials said that Anderson conspired with others to persuade elderly victims to give them thousands of dollars u…
Four Face Federal Indictment In Maryland For $3M Covid-19 Fraud Scheme
Four Maryland residents are facing federal indictment for a CARES Act COVID-19 unemployment fraud scheme that saw over $3 million in losses, officials say.
Three of the suspects had an initial court appearance in Baltimore on Thursday, July 21, while the fourth was scheduled to appear on Friday, July 22 in Florida.
Those facing charges:
Tyshawna Davis, 38, of Gwynn Oak;
Donna Jones, 55, of Cockeysville;
Devante Smith, 27, of Hanover;
Tila Woods, 44, of Baltimore.
From June 2020 through May 2021, the four used the identification information of their victims to fraudulently obtain une…
Romanian National In Maryland Sentenced For Stealing $1M Meant For Religious Institutions
A Romanian national will spend years in prison after scheming to steal thousands of checks from religious institutions in Maryland and across the East Coast worth more than $1 million, federal authorities announced.
Marius Vaduva, 27, of Hollywood, FL, was sentenced to 42 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, the US Department of Justice said.
In addition to his prison sentence, Vaduva was also ordered to pay $1,334,230.84 in restitution.
Sentencing was by Theodore Chuang, US District Judge in the District of…
