Rochester Man Arrested, Charged With Defrauding Three Elderly Individuals In A Jamaican Lottery Scam

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #:                (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Roydel Nicholson, 62, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the defendant defrauded three individuals out of a total $138,393.00 in a Jamaican lottery scheme. The victims include a 94 year old man from California, a 74 year old man, also from California, and a 77 year old woman from Detroit.

The complaint states that the victims were led to believe in telephone conversations that they had won various prizes such as $1,000,000. But in order to receive their prizes, the victims had to pay taxes, transportation fees and other various fees. Of the $138,393.00 Nicholson allegedly received from the victims, the complaint states that the defendant wired $114, 520.97 to individuals in Jamaica.

The criminal complaint is the culmination of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge J. Michael Kennedy and the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge, Boston Division.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.