AUSTIN — Two Austin men are among eight people who were indicted by a federal grand jury this week for their roles in an estimated $250 million intended-loss fraudulent "sweepstakes" scheme and an estimated $25 million intended-loss tax refund scheme, the Department of Justice said Wednesday.
Joel Calvin, 31, and Clarence Barefield, 40, of Austin, and their counterparts are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The indictment also charges Mesquite, Texas, resident Donna Lundy, age 54; Nigerian citizens and Canadian residents Harry Cole, age 48; Emmanuel Olawle Ajayi, age 41; Tony Dada Akinbobola, age 47; Bolaji Akinwunmi Oyewole, age 31; and, Nigerian citizen and Indianapolis, Indiana, resident Akintola Akinmadeyemi, age 54.
Ajayi also faces a second conspiracy-to-commit-wire-fraud charge and an aggravated identity theft charge. Lundy additionally faces one substantive count of wire fraud.
According to the DOJ, the defendants carried out their sweepstakes scheme from 2012 to 2016. The group allegedly worked together to target elderly victims by sending them mailers claiming they had won a sweepstake with a fraudulent check, typically in the amount of $8,000, made out to the victims. They were instructed to deposit the check in their bank accounts and immediately withdraw between $5,000 and $7,000 and send it to a "sweepstakes representative" to facilitate the victim collecting their prize. By the time the bank would notify the victims their checks were fraudulent, the cash or money order sent by the victims had already been received by the defendants.
Ajayi is accused of leading a SIRF scheme in which more than 1,200 fraudulent IRS tax returns were filed using stolen personal identifying information. He allegedly used names involved in the sweepstakes scheme.
The group is then accused of operating a money laundering conspiracy to move the funds outside of the U.S. without detection by law enforcement.
Calvin was arrested in Austin on Tuesday, while Barefield is currently in state custody on an unrelated matter. Ajayi and Oyewole are considered fugitives while Lundy has agreed to turn herself into custody. The remaining defendants are in custody.
Aggravated identity theft calls for a mandatory two years imprisonment upon conviction, the DOJ said. The remaining charges call for up to 20 years in federal prison.
