Jamaican man faces lengthy prison term over alleged scheme to defraud American woman
Published:Tuesday | August 27, 2024 | 3:40 PM
SOUTH DAKOTA, CMC – A Jamaican man is facing a lengthy prison term on wire fraud related charges after he appeared in US court Monday for his alleged role in a long-running scheme to defraud a California woman.
Dwayne Anderson, 35, of Hanover, is facing federal wire fraud charges.
He was arrested and extradition on July 11 by Jamaican authorities.
He had remained in custody in Jamaica since that time.
According to the indictment, from as early as 2010 until September 2017, Anderson participated in a scheme to defraud an American woman.
It said that using phony names, he contacted the victim by telephone, text message, and email and falsely informed her that she had won millions of dollars in a sweepstake.
Anderson persuaded the victim, who believed the defendant's false representations, to send money to pay various fees and taxes associated with the sweepstake.
He instructed the victim on how, and to whom to send these payments.
The indictment said Anderson repeatedly contacted the victim with additional requests to pay money and told the victim that her winnings would be forthcoming if she paid the requested money.
Anderson induced the victim to travel to Jamaica in September 2017 by falsely informing her that she would be able to collect her prize winnings.
He told the victim to bring US$1,600 in cash with her to Jamaica and instructed the victim to give the money to a driver that met her at the airport.
The victim paid the purported fees but never received any of her purported winnings.
Anderson is charged with eight counts of wire fraud filed in the US District Court for the District of South Dakota in February 2023 and was unsealed upon the defendant's extradition to the United States on August 22.
If convicted, Anderson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.
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