FORMER TALLAHASSEE MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN FRAUD SCHEME

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – John Kuhlmann, 78, of Daytona Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “I applaud the outstanding investigative work of our state and federal law enforcement partners to identify and dismantle this fraud scheme. My office will to continue to aggressively prosecute fraudsters to hold them accountable for their crimes and to secure restitution for the victims they exploited.”

Court documents reflect that beginning in November 2018, the defendant opened two corporations in Florida, “Seminole Services, Inc.” and “QB Accounting Services,” which purportedly were in business to provide computer technical support services. Neither business was registered as required by law as a money transmitting service. The investigation revealed the defendant opened the businesses in order to receive money from victims and then wired those funds to his co-conspirators who were located in foreign countries. The co-conspirators used a variety of tactics on victims—including convincing them that their computers had been infected with viruses, had been hacked, or their financial information was otherwise at risk of being stolen—to fraudulently convince them to pay as much as $150,000 for computer repair services. Over the course of his involvement in the fraud scheme, the defendant transferred approximately $3.5 million dollars in victim funds through his business bank accounts.

Kuhlmann faces up to five years’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release. He has agreed to pay over $1 million in restitution to the victims. 

The case involved a joint investigation by the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Meredith L. Steer and Justin M. Keen.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 18, 2025, at 3:00 pm at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before United States District Judge Mark Walker.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced professionals are standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.

More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at www.justice.gov/elderjustice. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints can be filed with the FTC at www.reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Justice Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, at www.ovc.gov.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit theU.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.