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Essex County Man Admits to Wire Fraud Scheme

An Essex County, New Jersey, man has admitted to conspiring to fraudulently obtain more than $700,000, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig.

Jefferson Robert, 31, of Newark, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Julien X. Neals to an information charging him with conspiring to commit wire fraud.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Robert and his conspirators used a fraudulent passport in another individual’s name to open bank accounts. They then caused an application to be made to the Washington State Employment Security Department for unemployment insurance benefits in the name of Victim 1. In response, ESD caused UIB to be deposited into one of the fraudulent bank accounts.

Robert and his conspirators were involved in other scams, including business email scams, where a victim was tricked into transferring approximately $28,000 into one of the bank accounts. They also used romance scams, causing a victim to make five deposits into one of the bank accounts totaling approximately $19,000. Additionally, they fraudulently obtained money from the IRS by causing the IRS to transfer payments in four victims’ names into one of the bank accounts.

Once the fraudulently obtained money was in the bank accounts, Robert moved the money, including through the purchase of money orders. Robert and his conspirators caused more than $700,000 in losses.

The charge of conspiring to commit wire fraud is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000, twice the gross profits to Robert or twice the gross loss suffered by the victims, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for February 15, 2022.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and special agents of the FBI with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark.