Jamaican National Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud

U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that ALEX SAUNDERS, age 25, a resident of Jamaica and former student athlete at Southern University in New Orleans, was sentenced today for his role in a conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

According to court documents, in or before August 2013, and continuing through December 2015, SAUNDERS and others operated a scheme to contact elderly individuals and people with diminished capacity. The scheme involved contacting victims by telephone through Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) and informing them that they had won a lottery and needed to pay SAUNDERS and others monies by cash, check, wire, or other methods in order to claim their lottery winnings.

After receiving victims’ funds through United States mail, private mail carrier, or through an electronic transfer, SAUNDERS, and other co-conspirators known and unknown to the United States Attorney, with knowledge that the money they received was obtained through false and fraudulent pretenses, did knowingly and intentionally transfer the stolen money to bank accounts in Jamaica.

SAUNDERS was sentenced to 5 years probation and is ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $56,300.

U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, United States Secret Service, and the United States Department of Homeland Security in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharan E. Lieberman was in charge of the prosecution.