WASHINGTON, USA, (CMC) – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says a US federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia has indicted a woman for impersonating a Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) special agent in connection with an international lottery fraud scheme based in Jamaica.
The DOJ said that VaniaLee Allen, 30, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and falsely impersonating an employee of the United States, one count of wire fraud and one count of falsely impersonating an employee of the United States.
According to the indictment, Allen and an unidentified co-conspirator in Jamaica sought to unlawfully enrich themselves through a fraudulent lottery scheme targeting an elderly resident of Evans, Georgia.
The DOJ said Allen’s co-conspirator falsely informed the victim by phone that the victim had won money in a lottery and instructed the victim to make payments to various people in order to collect the purported lottery winnings.
As alleged in the indictment, in order to gain the trust of the victim and induce him to continue to make payments, Allen traveled from Jamaica to the United States and falsely portrayed herself to the victim as an FBI agent.
“Fraud schemes operating from other countries and targeting Americans often cannot fully succeed without assistance from a co-conspirator in the United States,” said Principal Deputy Assistant attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
“Scammers use many different tactics in an effort to gain the trust of their victims. The Justice Department will actively pursue and charge those who participate in such criminal activity.”
US Attorney Edward J Tarver of the Southern District of Georgia said his office is “committed to vigorously prosecuting fraud schemes of all kinds.
“Those who perpetrate scams upon the vulnerable should know that federal law enforcement will work tirelessly toshut down fraud schemes and prosecute those responsible,” he added.
According to the indictment, Allen travelled from Jamaica to the United States in early May 2015 and that Allen had sent a number of text messages to her co-conspirator in Jamaica discussing the plan to impersonate an FBI agent.
The text message attached an image of a law enforcement style badge with an “FBI” logo and the words “Federal Bureau of Investigation” on the face of the badge, according to the indictment.
The indictment further alleges tha ton May 7, 2015, Allen traveled to the victim’s home in Evans, Georgia, falsely portrayed herself to the victim as a FBI special agent and provided the victim with a cellphone and directed him to speak with the person on the line, who washer co-conspirator in Jamaica.
“These lottery scammers prey on elderly Americans, and convince them to send significant amounts of money based on false promises,” said US Postal Inspector in Charge David W. Bosch of the Philadelphia Division. “The Postal Inspection Service is committed to investigating and combating these international lottery schemes.”
The DOJ said this prosecution is part of its effort to work with US federal and local law enforcement to combat fraudulent lottery schemes in Jamaica that prey on American citizens.
According to the US Postal Inspection Service, Americans have lost tens of millions of dollars to fraudulent foreign lotteries.
If convicted, the DOJ said Allen faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud count, as well as up to five years for the conspiracy count and up to three years for the false impersonation count.
