Sanjay Ashani Williams, Lottery Fraud, North Dakota 2015

Bismarck, North Dakota – A Jamaican national has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for his role in an international lottery fraud scheme that targeted victims in the United States.

Sanjay Ashani Williams, 26, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud or mail fraud, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and 35 counts of wire fraud. He was sentenced on November 24, 2015, and ordered to pay $5,672,561.15 in restitution.

Williams was the first Jamaican national to be tried and convicted in the United States for selling lead lists to lottery scammers. Lead lists consist of the names, telephone numbers, and personal information of potential victims and are sold to lottery scammers. Some lead lists are created by list wholesalers who send out bogus mass mailings purporting to be sweepstakes entries.

The victims of this scheme were targeted because of their age or personal circumstances, and the resulting harm was financial, psychological, and physical. Williams personally scammed numerous people, sometimes threatening the safety of his victims and their families.

Williams knowingly sold lead lists to co-conspirators Lavrick Willocks and approximately 400 other Jamaican lottery fraud scammers. These scammers contacted victims by telephone or mail and falsely told them they had won a large sweepstakes prize. The victims were required to send money to the scammers to pay non-existent taxes, fees, and insurance.

More than 80 victims of Williams’ conspiracy were identified, with reported losses totaling more than $5.5 million. Individual victims lost as little as $300 and as much as $850,000 to Williams and his co-conspirators. Nationwide, the number of Jamaican Lottery Fraud victims likely is in the millions, with some estimates of annual losses in excess of $1 billion.

The investigation into Williams and his co-conspirators is ongoing, with 25 other defendants from Jamaica and the United States charged in the same indictment. Eleven of those defendants have been arrested and pleaded guilty in this case.

Williams’ sentence is a result of his conviction on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud or mail fraud, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and 35 counts of wire fraud. He was sentenced on November 24, 2015, and ordered to pay $5,672,561.15 in restitution.

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