Jamaican gets over 13 years in US for international lottery fraud scheme

Jamaican David Odean McIntosh has been sentenced to over 13 years in prison in the United States for defrauding Americans in a lottery fraud scheme.

McIntosh, who was sentenced on Tuesday, was ordered by US District Judge Raner C. Collins to pay approximately US$1.8 million in restitution.

The 29-year-old was previously found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money Laundering.

The court heard that between 2013 and 2018, McIntosh was one of the leaders of an international fraud ring that targeted thousands of elderly victims around the US.

Jamaican-based scammers and others called elderly victims, claiming the victims had won a lottery or other prize.

To receive their winnings, the victims were told that they must first pay money for taxes and fees.

The fraudsters provided some victims with phony letters claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service that threatened to seize their assets if they failed to pay.

The court was told that McIntosh's role in the scheme was to distribute “lead lists,” which contained the names and personal information of thousands of primarily elderly individuals for the scammers to contact and lure into the scheme.

In addition, McIntosh also conspired to launder portions of the fraudulent proceeds.

The IRS– Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the Diplomatic Security Service conducted the investigation in this case.

The Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Section of the United States Attorney's Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.