Two Federal Juries Convict Greenville Fraudster of Separate Schemes in July

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA — Robin Lee Johnson, 51, of Greenville, was found guilty by a jury of six counts of uttering counterfeit securities.  Just two weeks ago, another jury found Johnson guilty of three counts of wire fraud. Senior United States District Judge Henry M. Herlong, Jr., presided over both trials and will sentence Johnson after the United States Probation Office prepares a presentence report.  Johnson faces a statutory maximum of ten years on the securities case and 20 years on the wire fraud case. 

Evidence presented to the jury during the first trial (July 11-12, 2023) showed that Johnson operated Global Staffing Solutions (“Global”), a business that purported to provide temporary employees to local companies.  Johnson sold Global’s accounts receivable, representing money due from providing the temporary employees, to Capital Business Funding, a local factoring company. Factoring is a financial transaction and a type of debtor finance in which a business (Global) sells its accounts receivable to a third party (Capital) at a discount. The invoice factoring company (Capital) seeks to collect on the invoices it has purchased.

It was a part of the scheme that Global did not actually provide temporary employees to multiple businesses; however, Johnson represented to Capital that Global’s accounts receivable were valid and legitimate. Capital received multiple fraudulent emails and other documents from Johnson indicating that the workers had been provided and that Global was due money from Capital based on the factoring arrangement. Before her scheme was uncovered, Johnson obtained $406,289.04 from Capital based on fraudulent documents submitted.  

Evidence presented during the second jury trial (July 26, 2023) showed that Johnson obtained and deposited six counterfeit checks totaling $185,533.16. The checks purported to be from National Funding, a lending company based in San Diego, California.  Johnson knew of National Funding because she was on its mailing list and received marketing materials with the company’s name, address, and business purpose.   The account number on the counterfeit checks belonged to a law firm in Ohio.   Johnson deposited four of the counterfeit checks in her Bank of America account and quickly dissipated the stolen funds through large cash withdrawals and transfers to other accounts.  Once the fraud was discovered, Bank of America stopped payment of the final two checks (totaling $75,000) and closed Johnson’s account because of fraud. 

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorneys Winston Marosek and Bill Watkins prosecuted both cases. 

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