Jamaican citizen extradited for plot to defraud US citizen

SOUTH DAKOTA, USA – A Jamaican national has been extradited to the United States and made his initial appearance today in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, following his role in a long-running scheme to defraud a California woman.

Dwayne Anderson, 35, of Hanover, Jamaica, faces federal charges of wire fraud. He was arrested, pursuant to the U.S. extradition request, by Jamaican authorities on July 11. He has been in custody in Jamaica since then.

According to the indictment, from 2010 to September 2017, Anderson participated in a scheme to defraud an American woman. Using false names, he contacted the victim by phone, text message, and email and falsely informed her that she had won millions of dollars in a lottery. Anderson convinced the victim, who believed the defendant’s false representations, to send money to pay various fees and taxes associated with the lottery. He instructed the victim on how and to whom these payments should be made. Anderson repeatedly contacted the victim with additional requests for money, telling the victim that her winnings would be paid if she paid the requested money.

Anderson coerced the victim into traveling to Jamaica in September 2017 by falsely telling her she would be able to collect her winnings. He told the victim to bring $1,600 in cash to Jamaica and instructed the victim to give the money to a driver who picked her up at the airport. The victim paid the alleged fees but never received any of her alleged winnings.

“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Division is committed to bringing to justice transnational criminals who defraud Americans, wherever they may be,” said Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Ensuring that those who perpetrate this type of fraud are held accountable is a Department priority, and I thank the Government of Jamaica for their assistance in extraditing the defendant to face trial here in the United States.”

“Making a living by exploiting the trust of Americans and draining their hard-earned savings is despicable,” said U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell for the District of South Dakota. “The District of South Dakota, working with our law enforcement partners, will pursue and prosecute anyone who engages in criminal acts that harm Americans.”

“Collaboration among international law enforcement partners is critical to protecting the international rule of law and the U.S. Mailstream,” said Detective Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group. “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to protecting Americans from transnational crime and is grateful to our partners in Jamaica for their assistance in bringing Anderson to justice.”

Anderson is charged with eight counts of wire fraud. The charges were filed in February 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota and became public after the defendant was extradited to the United States on August 22. If convicted, Anderson faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each count.

USPIS investigated the case. The Jamaica Constabulary Force provided critical assistance. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Jamaica to secure Anderson’s arrest and extradition.

The case was prosecuted by trial attorneys Brandon Robers and Edward Emokpae of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Hoffman for the District of South Dakota.

The Justice Department continues to investigate and bring charges in other similar cases involving attempts to defraud United States residents.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.