Rochester男子Timothy Wadsworth盗用信用卡经Stripe套现买比特币洗钱获刑51个月：涉案损失约206万美元
美国司法部纽约西区联邦检察官办公室10月23日宣布，纽约州 Rochester 男子 Timothy Wadsworth（35岁）因共谋电信诈骗与洗钱，被联邦地区法官 Frank P. Geraci Jr. 判处51个月监禁，并须向受害者赔偿 810,965.19 美元；法院另判令没收其电信诈骗所得 810,956.19 美元。检方表示，该案是特朗普政府「消除诈骗工作组」打击行动的一部分。
根据检方公布的案情，2020年3月至2021年9月间，Wadsworth 与同伙合谋骗取钱财：他从同伙处取得他人的信用卡账号，未经持卡人授权处理交易，把钱转入自己控制的银行账户，并将其中一部分转到 Coinbase 账户购买比特币、再把比特币转给同伙。仅在2020年3月10日至5月15日，他利用一个 Stripe 商户账户试图处理310笔支付、总额 1,673,578 美元，其中116笔最初成功、共 730,728.22 美元，全部为欺诈交易。
信用卡款项处理成功后，Wadsworth 把资金从 Stripe 账户转入他在汇丰银行（HSBC）与 Evolve Federal Credit Union 的账户，再转入 Coinbase 购买比特币并发送到多个外部地址，单笔交易经常超过1万美元。例如2020年4月22日至28日，他曾三度把诈骗所得从 Stripe 账户转入汇丰账户，金额分别为 49,419.99 美元、45,501.85 美元与 53,496.75 美元。
骗局还包括疫情时期的联邦救助诈骗。2020年5月13日至2021年5月5日，Wadsworth 等人提交了9份虚假的经济伤害灾难贷款（EIDL）申请，其中3份获批、共 161,200 美元打入其账户；2021年3月7日至4月26日，他们又申请6笔薪酬保护计划（PPP）贷款、共 91,219 美元，其中2笔获批、分别为 20,833 美元与 20,416 美元。2020年5月至2021年9月间，他还从纽约州、华盛顿州与联邦劳工部骗领了约 65,896 美元失业救济，而他并无领取资格。
此外，Wadsworth 还参与了一起感情诈骗：一名新近丧偶的女性在 Facebook 上结识自称石油钻井工人的男子，对方以回国旅费为由要求其汇款 42,000 美元，受害者于2020年3月20日把钱汇入 Wadsworth 的银行账户。他另以其他骗局骗取6名受害者共 26,000 美元。检方称，其信用卡诈骗、PPP 与 EIDL 诈骗、失业救济诈骗及其他诈骗合计造成约 2,059,893 美元的实际与意图损失。
宣判由纽约西区联邦检察官 Michael DiGiacomo 宣布，案件由助理联邦检察官 Katelyn M. Hartford 起诉，调查方包括联邦调查局（FBI）、国税局刑事调查局（IRS-CI）、纽约州金融服务部与纽约州劳工部。
Rochester Man Timothy Wadsworth Sentenced to 51 Months for Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme Involving Stripe and Bitcoin, With Losses of About $2.06 Million
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York announced on October 23 that Timothy Wadsworth, 35, of Rochester, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. to 51 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and was ordered to pay $810,965.19 in restitution. The court also ordered him to forfeit $810,956.19, representing the wire fraud proceeds he received. Prosecutors said the case is part of the Trump Administration's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
Between March 2020 and September 2021, Wadsworth conspired with others to fraudulently obtain money, prosecutors said. He obtained credit card account numbers from co-conspirators and processed unauthorized transactions, transferring the money to bank accounts he controlled and moving a portion to his Coinbase account to purchase Bitcoin, which he then transferred to his co-conspirators. Between March 10 and May 15, 2020, using a Stripe merchant account, he attempted to process 310 payments totaling $1,673,578; 116 were initially successful, totaling $730,728.22, and none were authorized by the account holders.
Once the payments cleared, Wadsworth moved the funds from his Stripe account to accounts he held at HSBC and Evolve Federal Credit Union, then to Coinbase, where he bought Bitcoin and sent it to various external addresses, often in amounts exceeding $10,000 each. Between April 22 and April 28, 2020, for example, he transferred fraud proceeds from his Stripe account to his HSBC account three times, in amounts of $49,419.99, $45,501.85, and $53,496.75.
The schemes also targeted pandemic relief programs. Between May 13, 2020, and May 5, 2021, Wadsworth and others submitted nine false Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications; three were approved and $161,200 was paid into his accounts. Between March 7 and April 26, 2021, they applied for six Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling $91,219, of which two were funded, for $20,833 and $20,416. From May 2020 through September 2021, he also fraudulently collected about $65,896 in unemployment benefits from New York State, Washington State, and the Department of Labor, though he was not eligible for any of it.
Wadsworth also took part in a romance fraud: a recently widowed woman who met a man on Facebook claiming to be an oil rig worker was directed to wire $42,000 for his travel expenses to Wadsworth's bank account, which she did on March 20, 2020. He defrauded six other victims out of an additional $26,000. In all, prosecutors said, the credit card fraud, the PPP and EIDL fraud, the unemployment fraud, and the other schemes caused about $2,059,893 in actual and intended losses.
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced the sentencing. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS Criminal Investigation, the New York State Department of Financial Services, and the New York State Department of Labor.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：Genesee 河与纽约州 Rochester 市中心天际线，本案被告居住于 Rochester 并在当地联邦法院受审判刑（资料图）。照片：Andre Carrotflower，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: The Genesee River and the downtown skyline of Rochester, New York, where the defendant lived and was sentenced in federal court (file photo). Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
