United States of America v. Derek Wachob

New York, New York criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendant charged with wire fraud.

Digested by: Kent Morlan

Derek Wachob, age 55, from Sapulpa, Oklahoma, portrayed himself as a billionaire and an accomplished CEO. He was lying. From at least in or about October 2022 through in or about August 2024, WACHOB—the Chief Executive Officer of a large manufacturer of steel pipes based in Sapulpa, Oklahoma (“Company-1”)—engaged in a scheme to defraud individual investors, a bank, an investment firm, and at least two steel pipe distributors of at least $66 million. To obtain money from each of the victims, WACHOB lied and misled the victims by, among other things, falsely claiming to offer purported business opportunities based on future steel purchases that WACHOB pledged to make. WACHOB used these misrepresentations to take millions of dollars from even some of his closest friends. Instead of using the victims’ money as promised, WACHOB spent the funds to maintain his extravagant lifestyle of expensive cars, vacation homes, private jets, helicopters, and yachts, and prop up Company-1, which was struggling financially and in debt. He orchestrated a multi-year scheme to degraud defraud individual investors, a bank, an investment firm, and at least two steel pipe distributors of at least $66 million.

The Defendant elected to plead guilty and faces 20 years in prison.