Lake Placid, Florida Man Sentenced for Participating in Business Email Compromise Scheme Spanning Four States

            Montgomery, Alabama – Today, United States Attorney Sandra J. Stewart announced the sentencing of Timothy Scott Marable for wire fraud. On August 1, 2023, a judge sentenced Marable, a 51-year-old from Lake Placid, Florida, to 12 months in prison.  

            According to his plea agreement and other court records, from November 2019 through August 2020, Marable served as a money mule in a business email compromise scheme that preyed on at least four businesses in four different states, including Alabama, Idaho, Ohio, and Texas. Participants in a business email compromise scheme gain unauthorized access to a business email account through various means, such as hacking the account or obtaining login information through social engineering. Participants then use the compromised email account to send emails to other businesses posing as legitimate account holders. Oftentimes, the scheme participants attempt to steal money from email recipients by fraudulently representing that the legitimate account holder has changed banking information and instructing the recipient to make future payments to a new bank account. The new bank account frequently belongs to a scheme participant who receives payment obtained by fraud and then transfers the proceeds to others involved in the scheme.

            Marable admitted in his plea agreement that he communicated with an individual through an online instant messaging platform. That person directed Marable to receive substantial deposits into his bank accounts through wire transfers, open new bank accounts, and distribute the deposited funds by writing checks and wiring the funds to offshore bank accounts. At least two fraudulent wire transfers received by Marable were sent by a company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Marable continued with this fraud despite multiple warnings that he was participating in a scheme and the closure of bank accounts due to fraudulent activity. During the sentencing hearing, the judge also ordered Marable to pay restitution in the amount of $2,701,746.50, representing the loss amount attributable to Marable.

            FBI offices in Alabama and Idaho investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen K. Moulton and Michelle R. Turner from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama prosecuted the case, with assistance from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.