Harold Mignott, Wire Fraud, New Jersey 2016

NEWARK, N.J. – Four men are facing federal charges today after allegedly fleecing a victim company out of $800,000 with a bogus investment scheme involving Mexican gold bonds and a phantom standby letter of credit. The scheme, spanning from March to June 2016, preyed on a company’s desire to secure financing for overseas gold purchases, according to Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick.

Harold Mignott, 54, of Voorhees, New Jersey; James Adkins, 64, of Hillside, New Jersey; Jerrid Douglas, 43, of Freehold, New Jersey; and Roy Johannes Gillar, 44, of Las Vegas, are each charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The quartet allegedly conspired to defraud an entity identified as “Victim Company A” out of approximately $1 million.

The scam involved establishing a New Jersey-based shell company and falsely promising Victim Company A a “standby letter of credit” – essentially a guarantee of payment – backed by the nonexistent Mexican gold bonds. The defendants pitched the scheme as a way to unlock financing for the company to purchase raw gold and resell it to refineries. Victim Company A agreed to pay $1 million for the purported bank fees associated with securing this letter of credit. But the promises were hollow.

Investigators say the defendants layered the fraud with phony documentation, including a fabricated letter from a major international bank claiming it was ready to issue a €1 billion standby letter of credit. This was enough to convince Victim Company A to transfer $800,000. However, instead of delivering on their promise, the defendants allegedly pocketed the money, spending it on luxury cars, expensive watches, mortgage payments, and large cash withdrawals. Not a single penny made it back to the victim company.

Gillar was arrested yesterday and detained after appearing before a Las Vegas federal court judge. Mignott, Adkins, and Douglas were arrested this morning and released on $200,000 unsecured bonds following initial court appearances in Newark. The feds say they haven’t provided anything of value to Victim Company A since March 2016, nor have they returned any of the stolen funds. The conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, spearheaded the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason S. Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark is prosecuting the case. It’s crucial to remember that these are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But the evidence, as presented, paints a picture of calculated deception and brazen theft.

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