Dwayne Anderson, Wire Fraud, South Dakota 2023

WASHINGTON - A Jamaican national was extradited to the United States and made his initial appearance today in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, following his role in a long-running scheme to defraud a California woman.

Dwayne Anderson, 35, of Hannover, Jamaica, will face federal wire fraud charges. He was arrested, pursuant to the U.S. request for extradition, on July 11 by Jamaican authorities. He has remained in custody in Jamaica since that time.

According to the indictment, from as early as 2010 until September 2017, Anderson participated in a scheme to defraud an American woman. Using phony names, he contacted the victim by telephone, text message, and email and falsely informed her that she had won millions of dollars in a sweepstakes.

Anderson persuaded the victim, who believed the defendant’s false representations, to send money to pay various fees and taxes associated with the sweepstakes. He instructed the victim on how, and to whom, to send these payments. Anderson repeatedly contacted the victim with additional requests to pay money and told the victim that her winnings would be forthcoming if she paid the requested money.

Anderson induced the victim to travel to Jamaica in September 2017 by falsely informing her that she would be able to collect her prize winnings. He told the victim to bring $1,600 in cash with her to Jamaica and instructed the victim to give the money to a driver that met her at the airport. The victim paid the purported fees but never received any of her purported winnings.

Anderson is charged with eight counts of wire fraud filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota in February 2023. If convicted, Anderson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count, totaling up to 160 years in prison.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, with the Jamaica Constabulary Force providing critical assistance. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Jamaica to secure the arrest and extradition of Anderson.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sd/pr/jamaican-national-extradited-scheme-defraud-american-citizen