A Jamaican lottery scammer has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for his role in an international fraud scheme that defrauded thousands of elderly Americans.
David Odean McIntosh, 29, was on Tuesday sentenced to 160 months in prison by United States District Judge Raner C. Collins.
McIntosh, who is considered one of the leaders of an international fraud ring, had previously been found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to a Friday release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, McIntosh was one of the leaders of an international fraud ring that targeted thousands of elderly victims across the United States between 2013 and 2018.
McIntosh was sentenced to pay approximately US$1.8 million in restitution as part of his sentence.
According to investigations, Jamaican-based scammers and others called elderly victims, claiming they had won a lottery or other prize. The victims were told they had to pay taxes and fees before they could receive their winnings.
The fraudsters also sent phony letters to some victims purporting to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) threatening to seize their assets if they did not pay the requested funds. The Jamaican perpetrators of the scam can be threatening and relentless. As a result, some people have been bilked out of thousands of dollars in this scam.
McIntosh’s role in this scam, according to the US Attorney’s Office, was to distribute lead lists, which contained the names and personal information of thousands of primarily elderly people for the scammers to contact and lure into the scheme.
McIntosh also conspired to launder some of the fraudulent proceeds. He was arrested and charged following an investigation by several agencies, including the IRS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations.
