Jason Wedderburn, Mail and Wire Fraud, Rhode Island 2021

In a shocking case of deceit, two Jamaican nationals have pleaded guilty to participating in lottery scams that defrauded U.S citizens in several states, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts, of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to court documents, Jason Wedderburn, 42, and Kayan Kitson, 38, began their conspiracy in at least May 2018, making unsolicited contact with people in several states, often senior citizens, informing them that they had won large sums of money in a lottery.

The victims were told they had to pay ‘up-front fees’ such as taxes or processing costs to collect their winnings. They were instructed to either mail checks or money orders made out to the defendants to cover the cost of the fees, or were provided instructions for depositing the funds into bank accounts controlled by the defendants and others.

Payments ranged from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some victims were contacted multiple times and told they needed to make additional payments. Once deposited, the funds were either quickly withdrawn, transferred to other bank accounts, or withdrawn from ATMs in Jamaica.

No lottery winnings were ever paid to any of the individuals contacted by the scammers. According to court documents, one Massachusetts victim was defrauded of more than $325,000. In total, over $600,000 was stolen primarily from elderly victims as part of the scam.

Wedderburn, who pled guilty on Tuesday, and Kitson, who pled guilty today, are scheduled to be sentenced on October 6, 2021. They have been detained since their arrest in Florida in August 2020.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sandra R. Hebert, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine D. Lowell. The matter was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Acting United States Attorney Richard B. Myrus thanks the FBI for its assistance.

Wedderburn and Kitson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in U.S District Court in Providence. The exact sentence or outcome for the defendants is yet to be determined.

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