Elderly US couple dressed up to collect lottery ‘prize’

An elderly American couple who lost US$70,000 to a Jamaican lottery scam syndicate got dressed “on several occasions” in their “best clothes” and waited for their million-dollar ‘prize’ to be delivered to their home, according to authorities in the United States (US).

The allegations were outlined in an indictment charging a Jamaican man, Richard Murray, 31, with money laundering and fraud-related crimes for his alleged involvement in a lottery scam that defrauded mainly elderly American citizens of millions of dollars.

The indictment was announced on Wednesday by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut and the US Postal Inspection Service.

It claimed that the couple, who were not named, received documents in the mail “fraudulently” indicating that they had won a prize of US$2.5 million and US$5,000 per week for the rest of their lives in a Publishers Clearing House (PCH) sweepstakes and needed to pay taxes to collect their ‘prizes’.

Further, the indictment alleges that the couple were told, in a December 2020 telephone call, that representatives of PCH, a popular US-based marketing company, were en route to their home to deliver the ‘winnings’.

On December 21, 2020, the couple – identified as ‘Married Couple 2 in court documents – purchased four postal money orders, each in the amount of US$500, and deposited them to an account allegedly controlled by Murray’s associates.

“On several occasions, Married Couple 2 dressed in their best clothes and waited for PCH representatives to arrive, but they never did,” claimed the indictment obtained by The Gleaner.

Murray was arrested in the US state of Georgia on January 22 this year and appeared before a US Magistrate in New Haven, Connecticut, on Wednesday, the US Attorney’s Office disclosed.

He pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud; three counts of mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Murray is the third Jamaican linked to the same lottery scam syndicate to face criminal charges in the US, officials confirmed yesterday.

The others are Howard Chambers and Alrick Anthony Gardner, who both reside in the state of Connecticut, according to separate statements released by the US Attorney’s Office in 2023.

Both men pleaded not guilty to fraud-related crimes during separate court appearances.

The indictment also claimed that Murray and his associates used the elderly couple to transfer funds that were fleeced from other victims.

“Married Couple 2 was told that other PCH winners would send them cheques to cover the fees they owed. When Married Couple 2 received these cheques, they cashed the cheques and sent the money on to others, as directed by co-conspirators,” authorities alleged in the document.

It claimed, too, that co-conspirators in Jamaica were provided with ATM cards for bank accounts in the US “that allowed them to withdraw funds generated through the scam”.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com