Wire Fraud Scammers Slapped with Prison Time

Two Men Sentenced for Wire Fraud Conspiracy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A brazen wire fraud scheme, which netted over $1.3 million in unauthorized wire transfers, has been dismantled as two high-ranking members of the operation were sentenced to prison yesterday.

Jamel Ski Yates, a/k/a “Goo,” 43, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 36 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. on federal wire fraud conspiracy charges. Yates was also ordered to serve two years under court supervision upon completion of his prison term and to pay $251,146 as restitution.

Yates’ co-defendant, Anthony Shawn Wilkerson, 46, of East Point, Georgia, received a year and a day in prison followed by two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $251,146 as restitution. Wilkerson pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud charges for his role in the conspiracy.

The wire fraud scheme, which spanned from January 2010 to January 2011, involved the unauthorized accessing of multiple customer accounts maintained by a financial services company located in Charlotte. Court records show that Yates stole personally identifiable information (PII) of approximately 90 customers of the victim company and provided the information to his co-conspirators.

Using the stolen information, the co-conspirators, which included Shaka Stayman, Dural Samuels, Barry Shade, Abiola O. Oginni, and Dwayne A. Reynolds, attempted to withdraw more than $1.3 million from the compromised customer accounts by executing multiple wire transfers ranging from $6,000 to $48,000. They then deposited the stolen funds into the co-conspirators’ own bank accounts or the bank accounts of other individuals, known as ‘money mule accounts’.

According to court records, the co-conspirators were able to steal over $300,000 through their wire fraud scheme. The investigation was led by the FBI, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Malley, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuting the case.

The scheme has been dismantled, with five additional defendants who conspired with Yates sentenced to date: Shaka Stayman, who received 84 months in prison; Dural Samuels, who received 28 months in prison and was ordered to pay $252,730 in restitution; Barry Shade, who received 12 months in prison and was ordered to pay $251,147 in restitution; Abiola O. Oginni, who received one year and a day in prison; and Dwayne A. Reynolds, who received three years of probation and was ordered to pay $20,037 in restitution.

Yates and Wilkerson will report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility to begin serving their prison terms. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.