Category: White Collar Crime
Armen Sargsyan, Smuggling Goods, California 2022
⏱ 2 min read An Armenian man was at the center of a brazen scheme to smuggle controlled goods to Russia, dodging US export regulations and sanctions. Kamo Kirakosyan, 38, pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to export goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations without a license from the US Department of Commerce. The…
New Jersey Duo, Money Laundering, New Jersey 2023
⏱ 3 min read Two New Jersey men, Kejia ‘Tony’ Wang and Zhenxing ‘Danny’ Wang, were involved in a brazen scheme to rip off U.S. companies and send millions to North Korea’s WMD programs. From 2018 to 2022, the duo dispatched skilled IT workers, using stolen U.S. identities, to score remote jobs with Fortune 500…
Oregon Investor Swindled $1.6M from Clients
⏱ 3 min read A cunning investment scam unfolded in rural Oregon, leaving a trail of financial devastation in its wake. For nearly 17 years, Jeffrey Thomas Higgins, 54, of Baker City, convinced his clients to hand over their hard-earned cash, promising sky-high returns. But instead of investing their shares, Higgins bought the stocks at…
James Robert Smith, Wire Fraud, Texas 2023
⏱ 2 min read A slick Texas con man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for running a brazen cryptocurrency scam that swindled nearly 1,000 investors out of $20 million in Chicago. Robert Dunlap, 55, of Houston, claimed to operate a cryptocurrency business that sold a digital asset called ‘Meta-1 Coin’ through a…
James Edward Johnson, COVID-19 Relief Scam, Virginia 2022
⏱ 4 min read A Suffolk man is going down for a series of brazen scams that netted over $112,000 in COVID-19 relief funds and unemployment benefits. Raymond Antoine Wyche, 34, was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit fraud, making false statements, and bank fraud. Wyche’s scheme involved providing the personal…
Smith Johnson, PPP Loan Fraud, Tennessee 2020
⏱ 2 min read A Tennessee firm, Takahata Precision Tennessee, Inc., just got a hefty dose of reality for trying to pull a fast one on the feds. The Knoxville-based company agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle allegations it received and got forgiveness for a Paycheck Protection Program loan while ineligible. Congress created the…
Petty Officer John Doe, Housing Allowance Fraud, California 2020
⏱ 2 min read A brazen Coast Guard Petty Officer swindled $32,260 in housing allowance funds from the US government by making false claims about his living arrangements in Puerto Rico. Mario Guzman, a Petty Officer Second Class Maritime Enforcement Specialist, applied for Temporary Lodging Allowance funds on four separate occasions, claiming his family incurred…
Jacksonville Pastor, Embezzlement, Florida 2020
⏱ 3 min read In a brazen scheme, former Jacksonville church pastor Marcus Eichelberger, 46, allegedly swindled two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA), netting a cool $50,000. Between March 2021 and February 2022, Eichelberger directed a co-conspirator to submit fake applications for the loans, claiming the funds would be…
Appleton Clinics Owner, Medicare False Claims, Wisconsin 2022
⏱ 2 min read An Appleton clinic and its principal doctor, Dr. Michael Johnson, are facing the music after bilking Medicare for over $380,000. Apple Medical Clinic offered a lucrative treatment package that included electric muscle stimulation, vitamin injections, and other fancy-sounding services – but none of it was medically necessary. In fact, the combined…
James Robert Smith, Investment Fraud, California 2020
⏱ 2 min read A Niceville retired Army Sergeant promised his victims a way to make big bucks, but Sidney Marc Wilson Jr. had no intention of delivering. Between 2018 and 2022, Wilson ran an online scheme that duped victims into handing over up to $21,000 for a shot at easy money. Instead of investing…
