American ex-pat pleads guilty to Panamanian wire fraud conspiracy

 

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Date: September 22, 2021

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Tampa, FL — Jeffrey Jedlicki (Panama City, Panama) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the operation of international boiler rooms which defrauded victims via the sale of worthless investments. Jedlicki faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.

According to the plea agreement, Jedlicki and his co-conspirators operated international boiler rooms in Panama and elsewhere that used high-pressure sales techniques to defraud individuals who invested substantial amounts of money in what they believed were regulated financial products or markets, such as options in commodities and stocks. The majority of the victims that the boiler rooms targeted were located in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

Jedlicki and his co-conspirators then transferred fraud proceeds generated by the boiler rooms through several money laundering rings, and then on to overseas accounts, with the launderers receiving a percentage of the funds they had moved. Jedlicki himself received a 2% referral fee for referring victims' funds to a money laundering ring. Jedlicki used the funds to perpetuate the conspiracy, and for his own personal enrichment. In total, Jedlicki and his co-conspirators wired or caused to be wired approximately $3,244,592 (U.S. Dollars) in victims' funds to money laundering accounts in furtherance of the wire fraud conspiracy.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David W.A. Chee.