FORMER TALLAHASSEE MAN SENTENCED IN COMPUTER TECH SUPPORT FRAUD SCHEME THAT TARGETED THE ELDERLY

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – John Kuhlmann, 79, of Daytona Beach, Florida, was sentenced on Thursday to pay $1,005,313.00 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business in connection with a nationwide computer technical support fraud scheme that preyed upon more than 300 elderly vulnerable victims. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “This despicable fraudster facilitated the financial exploitation of several elderly victims, robbing them of not only their money, but of their dignity, while lining his own pockets and those of his co-conspirators. My office will deploy every available legal resource to enforce the substantial restitution judgment entered against this offender to return as much stolen money to the victims as possible. I deeply appreciate the excellent investigative work by our state and federal law enforcement partners that led to his arrest and the dismantling of this fraud scheme, and urge residents to remain vigilant to similar schemes targeting the elderly.”

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 tech services. Neither business was registered as a money transmitting service as required by law, but the defendant had opened the businesses to receive money from elderly victims and then wire those funds to his co-conspirators who were located in foreign countries. These co-conspirators used a variety of tactics on victims—including convincing them that their computers had been infected with computer viruses, had been hacked, or their financial information was otherwise at risk of being stolen—to fraudulently convince victims to pay as much as $150,000.00 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.

“The Secret Service is committed to protecting our nation’s financial infrastructure from threats both foreign and domestic. That commitment is reflected in the outstanding work of our Special Agents and their investigative and prosecutorial partners in the Northern District of Florida,” said Resident Agent in Charge Seth Reister, United States Secret Service, Tallahassee Resident Office.  “This investigation, prosecution, and sentencing highlight the real costs of elder fraud schemes, not only in dollars lost, but in the very real harm inflicted on some of our most vulnerable citizens.”

“This long-term investigation proved the defendant was intimately involved with a scheme to defraud our elderly and its resolution exemplifies the high level of dedication demonstrated by all agencies involved to bring this defendant to justice,” said Inspector in Charge, Bladismir Rojo, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Miami Division. “We, along with our law enforcement partners, remain committed to dismantling transnational criminal organizations that target our nation’s most vulnerable population.”

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 was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Meredith L. Steer and Justin M. Keen.

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 the U.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.