California Fraudster Sentenced to Four Years in Federal Prison for International Mail and Wire Fraud Conspiracy

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel yesterday sentenced Saul Eady, age 36, of Los Angeles, California, to four years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain goods using what appeared to be a military e-mail address, but was actually a registered Yahoo e-mail address.  Judge Hazel also entered an order requiring Eady to forfeit and to pay restitution in the full amount of the victim’s losses, which is $640,172.80.  Eady has been detained since his arrest in October 2018.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig, Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office; Special Agent in Charge John Eisert of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and Special Agent in Charge Nasir Khan of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement's Washington Field Office. 

According to Eady’s plea agreement, a co-conspirator established and used what was purported to be a U.S. Navy e-mail address, authentic forms, titles, addresses and other indicia to pose as U.S. government contracting agents and fraudulently obtain merchandise, including large-screen televisions, specialized communications equipment, cellular telephones and computers.  Much of the fraud scheme was conducted from outside the United States, including from Nigeria.  Three victim companies—one that provided wireless voice and data services that was headquartered in Washington State, one that was a wholesale audio-video distributor and manufacturer’s representative located in Virginia, and a defense contractor that designed, manufactured, and marketed communications equipment that was headquartered in Maryland—shipped merchandise, without prior payment, to Eady’s East Coast co-conspirators.  Those individuals then shipped the stolen items to Eady and others on the West Coast.

Specifically, Eady admitted that from November 2016 until February 2017, he assisted in receiving, transporting, and storing the stolen televisions by renting trucks and transporting the stolen televisions to at least three storage locations in the Los Angeles area, where Eady and other had rented storage units.  Following the sale of the televisions, Eady was paid in cash for receiving and moving the televisions.  According to his plea agreement, the organization obtained approximately 2,109 televisions over the course of the scheme, and the number of televisions and loss attributable to Eady is 493 televisions worth at least $1,181,290.80.

Eady also admitted that he engaged in financial transactions using the proceeds of the fraud scheme.  Specifically, Eady assisted in depositing cash obtained from the sale of the stolen goods into bank accounts of co-conspirators.  At times, Eady received cash in excess of $10,000, but made smaller deposits at different bank locations in order to avoid detection by financial institutions and law enforcement.

Based on bank records, surveillance footage, financial and business records of the victim companies, and other information, the loss foreseeable to Saul Eady was between $1.5 million and $3.5 million.

Of the nine defendants charged in this case, six have pleaded guilty to their roles in the fraud scheme, including Saul Eady.  Two others are scheduled for trial next month, and one defendant, Peter Unakalu, is a fugitive.                   

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur praised the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement for their work in the investigation, and thanked the FBI Washington Field Office and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for their assistance.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer R. Sykes and Joseph R. Baldwin, who prosecuted the case.

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