OHIO MAN ARRESTED FOR WIRE FRAUD AND AGGRAVTED IDENTITY THEFT IN CONNECTION WITH SCHEME ON ST. CROIX

St. Croix, VI – Mitch G. Stevenson, 61, who was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of the Virgin Islands for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, was arrested yesterday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced. After his arrest, Stevenson was brought before Magistrate Judge Stephanie Bowman of the Southern District of Ohio, who ordered that he be detained pending further judicial proceedings.

According to court documents, in the summer of 2023, Stevenson approached a Florida-based investor with a business proposition which involved the purchase of scrap electric and wire cable located at Port Hamilton on St. Croix. Stevenson proposed that the Florida-based investor pay Port Hamilton $83,200 for 9,200 feet of miscellaneous electric wire and cable, which would be secured by a bill of sale granting him ownership of the scrap electric and wire cable. Court documents further state that the scrap electric and wire cable would then be transported to Florida, where it would be processed to extract the copper, which would be re-sold for a profit. The two men would then equally split the profits from the sale of the extracted copper.

According to court documents, in order to effectuate this business transaction, Stevenson entered into a contract with Port Hamilton for the purchase of the scrap electric and wire cable. The contract, which was signed by a representative of Port Hamilton, did not include the Florida-based investor as a party to the agreement. Court documents further state that Stevenson concealed the source of the funding from the Port Hamilton representative and gave the Florida-based investor a fake bill of sale, purportedly signed by a representative of Port Hamilton. In reliance on the fake bill of sale, the Florida-based investor wired the $83,200 to Port Hamilton’s bank account. Upon receipt of the $83,200, Port Hamilton transferred ownership of the scrap wire and metal to Stevenson even though the Florida-based investor paid for it.

The United States Attorney reminds the public that an indictment is merely an allegation and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Evan Rikhye.