United States of America v. Gabriel Waters

Oxford, Mississippi criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with committing wire fraud and money laundering

Ohio Man Sentenced for Large-Scale Multi-National Business Email Compromise Scams

An Ohio man was sentenced to over four years in prison and ordered to pay more than $547,000.00 in restitution for committing wire fraud and money laundering in connection with scamming companies in Mississippi and throughout the country.



Gabriel Waters, 54, of Chillicothe, Ohio, was involved in a wire fraud and money laundering scheme where fraudsters spoofed email accounts which imitated corporate email accounts of employees who control company finances at victim companies. In this scheme, fraudsters bought domain names that looked very similar to the legitimate domain names owned by the victim businesses. The fraudsters used those imitation email accounts to direct employees, customers, or partners of a victim company to send money to a bank account controlled by the fraudsters. The fraudsters directed an employee to wire funds under the disguise of legitimate business transactions.



Gabriel Waters was crucial to the scheme by setting up bank accounts in the U.S., receiving money directly from the victims, and laundering the money around to different accounts before finally converting it to cryptocurrency to send overseas to the emailing fraudsters.



U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced Waters to serve 57 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $547,455.80 in restitution to his victims.



Following the sentencing, federal leaders acknowledged the importance of this investigation and prosecution to the State of Mississippi and condemned the defendant's fraudulent actions.



"Working with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to pursue criminal prosecutions against scammers who victimize American businesses and individuals,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. "Reach out to law enforcement immediately if you have fallen prey to an online scam so that evidence can be gathered, and money can possibly be recouped.”



"Elaborate fraud schemes against unsuspecting Mississippi companies will not be tolerated,” stated Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jackson Field Office Robert Eikhoff. "Mr. Waters' sentencing exemplifies the FBI's commitment to holding individuals accountable for their criminal actions, motivated by greed. FBI Jackson and the U.S. Attorney's Office will continue protecting Mississippi companies and the public from these damaging schemes.”



The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office investigated the case.



Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clyde McGee and John Herzog prosecuted the case.