Twelve indicted in multimillion dollar business email compromise scheme

 

Date: Jan. 24, 2025

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Columbia, SC — A federal grand jury in Columbia returned a 12-count indictment alleging conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering against 12 individuals for defrauding multiple victims in a nationwide scheme.

The indictment alleges that the defendants listed below were involved in a business email compromise scheme that defrauded the victims out of millions of dollars. These types of fraud target both companies and individuals.

  • Demani Jawara Bosket of Saluda
  • Nkem Ajoku of Pflugerville, Texas
  • Walter Clayron Ruff Jr. of Gaston
  • Tanya Lawshawn Bosket of Saluda
  • Jahbir Rolando Fowle of Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Anthony Jerome Savage of Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Micheal Raymond Bevans-Silva of Savannah, Georgia
  • Carlise Raymion Roland of Jacksonville, Florida
  • Daniel Alexander Edwards of Jacksonville, Florida
  • Danny Heard II of Jacksonville, Florida
  • Raymone Tyshay Scott Sr. of Jacksonville, Florida
  • Jamian Joshaun Butler of Jacksonville, Florida

The perpetrators of these types of frauds typically employ the use of “spoofed” emails that appear to be the genuine email address of a legitimate business or banking institution. In reality, the email address is a slight variation of the true email address, and the victim is instead communicating with perpetuators of the scheme.

The indictment alleges that the defendants accessed the victims’ computer systems to monitor email communications for potential financial transactions and bank transfers. The defendants used this information to identify the victims’ points of contact, financial accounts, communications, and business practices. The defendants then used spoofed emails to impersonate internal personnel, business partners, vendors, or other interested parties. The defendants would then initiate payments or direct financial transfers to bank accounts they controlled. The defendants then shared and intermixed the stolen funds between their own bank accounts, before sending a portion of the money out of the country. The defendants are alleged to have victimized multiple individuals and businesses, including construction companies, private equity firms, title companies, and law firms in South Carolina, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and Japan.

The defendants face a maximum penalty of 30 years imprisonment and fines of $1,000,000. The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 4, 2025, at 10 a.m. before the Honorable Paige J. Gossett.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lothrop Morris and T. DeWayne Pearson are prosecuting the case.

All charges in the indictment are merely accusations and that defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.