The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says a Jamaican on Friday pleaded guilty in Miami federal court to participating in a lottery fraud scheme targeting elderly victims in the United States.
According to court documents, Greg Warren Clarke, 29, of Montego Bay, Jamaica, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his role in a Jamaica-based fraudulent lottery scheme that convinced American victims – many of whom were elderly – to pay money to collect fictitious lottery winnings.
The DOJ said an indictment was filed against Clarke in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in April 2019 and unsealed on his extradition to the United States in May 2022.
“This guilty plea demonstrates the Justice Department’s dedication to prosecuting those responsible for fraudulent lottery schemes, even when they commit their crimes from foreign countries,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the DOJ’s Civil Division. “We will continue to aggressively combat scams that seek to prey on older Americans.”
“The US Postal Inspection Service stands ready to stop overseas criminals from illegally enriching themselves by using the mail to defraud consumers in the United States,” said Acting Inspector in Charge Juan Vargas of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division. “We will continue to work with foreign governments to track down these criminals and bring them to justice.”
As part of his guilty plea, the DOJ said Clarke admitted that, from in or around September 2013, through in or around August 2015, he worked with co-conspirators, including Claude Anthony Shaw, in a scheme to defraud in which victims were called and falsely told that they had won over a million dollars in a lottery and needed to pay fees or taxes to claim their winnings.
The DOJ said victims were instructed to send their money through wire transfers or the mail to Shaw and other individuals.
Clarke further admitted that, as part of the conspiracy, he and Shaw discussed, over the phone and through cell phone text messages, plans to receive victims’ money, the DOJ said.
At Clarke’s direction, Shaw received money from victims through wire transfers and the mail.
The DOJ said Clarke further admitted that he and Shaw discussed arrangements for victims to send money to other individuals with whom Shaw worked.
Clarke then instructed Shaw to send the victims’ money to Clarke in Jamaica, usually through wire transfers, the DOJ said.
It said victims who sent money to Clarke and his co-conspirators never received any lottery winnings.
The DOJ said Shaw previously pleaded guilty to mail fraud in the US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In June 2017, he was sentenced to 36 months in prison.
Clarke is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28.
CMC/
