Gulfport, Miss - The first defendant of eighteen indicted in a nine-count federal indictment filed in the Southern District of Mississippi against defendants in South Africa, Canada, Indiana, California, New York and Wisconsin, entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Raymond R Parmer, Jr.
Dennis Brian Ladden, 73 years old, formerly of Wisconsin, entered the guilty plea before United States District Judge Sul Ozerden on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014. Ladden faces a maximum of five years in prison, $250,000 fine and three years of post-release supervision. Ladden admitted an on-line relationship led to receiving and attempting to cash a credit card cash advance check fraudulently obtained by co-conspirators using the victim’s personal identifying information and credit card information. He also admitted notifying co-conspirators that he had been contacted by federal agents regarding an investigation.
Sentencing for Dennis Brian Ladden is set for Nov. 19, 2014 before United States District Judge Sul Ozerden.
The indictment alleges a West African transnational organized crime enterprise involved in numerous complex financial fraud schemes over the internet. This mass marketing fraud includes romance scams, re-shipping scams, fraudulent check scams and work-at-home scams, along with bank, financial and credit card account take-overs.
The case in Mississippi is prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Annette Williams and Scott Gilbert.
If you believe you have been a victim of fraud from a person or an organization soliciting relief funds on behalf of storm victims, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud toll free at:
(866) 720-5721
You can also fax information to:
(225) 334-4707
or e-mail it to:
disaster@leo.gov
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
